Marks of Changes
by Silverrenegade
Summary: Sonething’s happening to Keith. And it scares the living hell out of him!
1. Aperance

Keith's knife clattered to the ground, bouncing off the pristine white floor. It all happened so fast he even moved to bring the luxite blade up to defend himself agenst his attacker. Luckily he noticed with seconds to spare and vaulted to the floor to avoid the blue blade of the castle's training robot, set to difficulty 9. Highest it's ever been set to.

Highest anyone has ever reached still alive.

"Stop training session!" Keith gasped before the robot could round on him and take his head. The blue and white guardian froze midstep before evaporateing back into the rooms code.

Keith rose on shaky legs from his defensive position on the floor, moving unsteadily to where the purple blade lay in contrast to the shining white that took the whole room. He had strode through the doors of the training room hours ago, itching to blow off steam since he couldn't take his anger out on the one who caused it.

Lance.

Moronic imbecile that he was decided it was a good idea to start prying at the fact that Keith was part Galra. Making fun of Keith had been one thing, but when he had the audacity the relate what happened to Shiro, Keith's brother in every way but blood, to him being Galra? Keith lost it. If Allura hadn't been standing right there waiting for him to do something, anything, slightly close to the behavior of a Galra, Keith would have driven his luxite blade right through Lance for ever comparing him to the monsters that held Shiro.

So Keith stormed out, his mind full of anger and self loathing. Truth be told the anger had diminished well before he had reached the training room, but his mind had wondered to the fact that Lance may not have been wrong.

The Galra did those horrible things to Shiro, enough to make him lose himself sometimes. Shiro was always terrifying when that happened, nothing but pure rage and an animalistic focus to kill, but the most horrifying thing? That came when they brought Shiro back and he fell apart at the memories of being experimented on and forced to fight in an arena. Yes the Galra did that to him.

And Keith was part Galra.

With his mind lost in the dark thoughts he started his training at level one. The way the room was set up you eaither beat the guardian or survived an hour. Keith had only beat the first three.

Keith's right shoulder flared in burning pain as he reached down to retrieve his knife. Strange, he pondered wondering where the sharp pain was coming from, he didn't remember being hit by the guardian's blade but it was entirely possible he was so focused he didn't feel the skin get torn.

Tentatively Keith reached his left hand over his right shoulder and gently traced the area. More pain erupted, worse than before, but when he pulled his hand away there was no blood covering his finger tips.

Keith didn't have time to question his pain as Hunk's ever cheery voice came over the loud speaker or intercom or whatever Altean device ran through the castle, alerting the castles residents that dinner was ready and to report immediately to the dinning hall.

He stood there in that pristine white room wondering if training and possibly causing more pain was batter than having to sit though the concoction that Hunk and Coran had created, but ultimately decided agenst it.

Sheathing his dagger with his injured arm proved to be difficult but he managed before walking out of the blinding training room and down the hall, his boot clicking agenst the flooring the whole way.

Dinner was... awkward. The air around the table was heavy, almost suffocatingly so. Hunk , Pidge, and Coran ate happily not noticing the atmosphere that hung over the others, each giving off a slightly different emotion to add to the ever growing storm.

Lance had his head down. He sat abnormally still and quiet while he pushed his food around the plate in front of him. Lance always, Always are like truck. No matter what it tasted like he ate as much as he could as fast as he could all while blabbering endlessly. Not tonight though. Tonight he just sat quietly and listened to the small conversations that had begun on the other end of the table.

On Lance's right, Shiro seemed nervous. His shoulders were tense and he looked like he wanted to say something but wasn't sure if he should. He kept looking between lance and Keith, his gaze lingering on Keith longer than Lance as if he was worried.

At the head of the table, Keith could feel Allura's gaze burning into him refusing to let him out of her sight while the others were around. She hadn't reacted very well to him being part Galra. Her hands were clenched tightly around her silverware making her normally dark knuckles turn pale. She wore her armor as if she was expecting a fight and wanted the upper hand.

Keith was just trying to not be noticed. The occasional pain in his shoulder had transformed into a throb and every few minutes it would spike again sending agony throughout his body. His hands were shaking badly and he didn't even try to eat knowing it would be impossible with the tremors in his fingers. He kept his eyes trained on the table trying desperately not to show he was in pain but as the seconds ticked by it was becomeing more challenging. He was sweating but he could blame that on the training. Keith was always quiet but he at least ate most days.

Dinner ticked by with agonizing speed but eventually people started to wander off, Hunk going to the kitchen to clean, Pidge heading toward the green lions hanger, Allura, Coran and Shiro heading to the bridge. Keith tried to make a B-line to his room but was cut off by a certain blue eyed Cuban.

"Keith, can we talk?" Lance came up beside him before curving in front of him, effectively making Keith stop in the hallway. "Look Keith I'm sorry about what I said earlier. That was totally upt of line and if I had been thinking strait I would never have said it. I didn't even realize what I was saying before it was coming out of my mouth and I regret every second of that fight. I'm so sorry. You know I dont think of you as a monster right? Because I don't think of you as a monster! You know I always got your back right buddy? I mean we're Paladins! I'll always have your back! I'm just so sorry that any of this happened, I'm sorry I said that, it was totally uncalled for especially in front of Allura who already kinda hates you-"

Lance babbled on about how sorry he was but Keith was in so much pain he didn't even listen. Lance had said he was sorry wasn't that enough? It had been a stupid comment and now it was done. Keith wasn't mad but he was starting to lose control over his stoic facade, he knew he couldn't take this much longer without showing his pain. "Lance! It's ok. You don't have to apologize. It was a stupid comment that you obviously didn't mean to say."

"So we're good?" Lance asked. This wasn't like Keith to just forgive and forget. Something was off here. Now that lance was really looking Keith looked paler than usual, if that was even possible, and he kept looking past Lance to his room. "Hey, dude, you ok?"

Lance reached out a hand and set it down on his right shoulder. Keith tried so hard not to flinch when the hand settled on his right shoulder but he couldn't help it. It _Hurt_. Lance retracted his hand almost immediately, "Keith, your freezing" That wasn't exactly what Keith thought he was going to say but he took the opportunity.

"We're good, Lance" Keith muttered before pushing past Lance and making his way to his room. One he got inside he immediately shut his eyes and let out a pained sigh. He was freezing, he hadn't even noticed until lance had said something but he was cold.

He stumbled farther into the bare room and all but collapsed on the bed. Keith placed his head in his hand for a moment trying to regain even a little bit of his normal composure, but he couldn't ignore the sweat collecting on the back of his neck, or the way his entire body what shaking both from mindless pain and the fridgid tempature of his body. Wait, he was sweating and shivering? That can't be right.

Keith rose from the mattress before he slowly made his way towed the bathroom, his vision we swirling with dark _and_ light spots as his hip bone collided with the sink, that thing was at a dangerous height. He gazed into the mirror shocked by how pale and tired he looked. Lance must have though he was dying... no wonder he tried to be nice. They may have been "rivals", as lance would say, but apparently he still cared if Keith was healthy or not.

That was the question, what was wrong with Keith? Why was he in so much pain?

As if being summoned another shap stabb of pain exploded in his shoulder, so painful that his knees gave out. Keith wildly threw his hands out and caught the edge of the sink before his head did.

A sob wrenched its way up his throat as he used both arms to steady his legs again. Keith looked back up in the mirror, tired, painfilled,amethyst eyes gazed back at him.

Keith gently grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it slightly, he was immediately met by more pain. Determination setting in, Keith griped the fabric hard and wrenched it over his head trying desperately to ignore the scream of agony that rose from the action.

When the gray shirt was removed it left Keith looking at his bare chest, almost to scared to turn around, but he had to! He had to see what was happening! He had to see... didn't he? Keith closed his eyes,took a deep breath and turns so he was facing sideways to the mirror. He knew he should open his eyes but he was terrified of what was happening to him, mostly because he didn't know what was happening. Shaking Keith opened his eyes and his breath hitched.

What the hell?

Just below his right shoulder blade was a patch of pale purple. Tiny purple tendrils spread out from every direction causing th skin around the purple to become red and irritated. It looked like some kind of disease. The darkest section of it was a mix of a dozen different shades of purple and was centerd on the cloud shaped bruse. Was it a bruse? If it was it was the strangest bruse he had ever seen, and Keith had seen his fair share.

He didn't know how long he sat there staring at his back, But eventually his shivers had disappeared and he knew that was a bad thing. It took him ten minuets to get his shirt back over both arms, it gave him time to think. He knew he needed help but he didn't know who he should go to.

Allura and Coran were obviously not a choice. He didn't know what was happening but he bet it had something to do with him being Galra. Allura would rather shoot Keith before even considering helping him, and while Coran didn't say anything he had distanced himself from Keith tremendously since his announcement.

Pidge wa vetoed almost as quickly seeing as she would help by running tests. Lots of tests. Keith didn't like tests he hated needles and the thought of being strapped down. Plus Keith wasn't sure if Pidge actually had emotions, he was convinced she was a robot like the training gaurdians.

He considered asking Hunk for help but out of all the paladins Hunk k ew the least about him, and was more likely to get scared or sick than to be truly helpful.

That left Shiro and Lance.

Shiro was like a brother to him. He had taken Keith under his wing when Keith's father had died. They always looked after each other no matter what. That was all before the Kerberos mission. Things had changed quite a bit from when it was just them racing speeders in the desert. Things like the Galra. And while Lance had admitted he was out of line Keith couldn't help but think about what he had said. Keith was part Galra. Part the race that tourtured Shiro for a year! The thought of asking Shiro to help him with this immediately made he feel sick. Keith had not right to put Shiro through that.

That left only one person

Keith exited his bathroom and glanced at the clock by his bed. On earth it would be close to three in the morning. Everyone would be asleep. It took Keith by surprise that he had been in that bathroom for hours , but a stab of pain brought him back from faxing off again.

He left his room quietly. He wasn't to worried about waking people up as he snuck out of his room in the middle of the night most of the time and become quite skilled at moving silently. His destination was just around the corner, it took him to time to get there. Every step he took jostled his shoulder causing it to take much longer to get to the door than he would have liked. He knocked on the door so he couldn't talk himself out of asking for help. The door opened seconds after to reveal his choice of help.

"Lance-"


	2. Pain

"Lance-"

Seeing Keith in the hallway had been one thing. Lance knew something wasn't right when he _willingly_ forgave Lance without a second thought. Keith had held grudges for months about things far less serious than Lance telling him he was one of the monsters that hurt Shiro, but Keith had seemed unfocused, unsteady on his feet which was unusual for the skilled fighter.

He had looked pretty rough too. He had been much paler than his normal snow camouflage, and Lance hadn't failed to notice the sweat that had collected around his collar, and clung to his upper lip. All of that could be pinned on over training, it wouldn't be the first time Keith pushed himself to exhaustion, but what made Lance the most nervous was when he tried to touch him.

Keith had been freezing. The kind of freezing where Lance actually pulled his hand away because it was so cold it burned his fingers.

Now Keith was standing, if you could call it that, in his doorway at, what the hell time was it like three in the morning?!, looking so much worse than he had in the corridor of the castle. He only said the one word but Lance could hear the desperation in each syllable. "Keith? Come in, man" he said before moving out of the way of the door to allow Keith to enter.

Lance's room was a mess. There were cloths strewn across most of the floor, half of which were dirty, which half he didn't know. In the far corner by one of the blue lights that ran the length of the wall was his gaming system that he bought with Pidge when they went to the space mall. Good times. His bed was unmade but Lance found it more comfortable when it wasn't to when it was. Don't even get him started on his bathroom. Other than his possessions his room looked identical to that of the other paladins'.

After taking a mental note of the way his room looked, Lance turned to Keith who had propped himself agenst the wall closest to the door. He seemed uncomfortable, or maybe he was nervous.

They sat in silence for a few minuets, in which time Lance had migrated to the bed and Keith had positioned himself so he was leaning heavily agents the pale white wall, Keith almost matched the coloration. He was in really bad shape and it was starting to agitate Lance. No matter how much he paraded around the idea that they were rivals, Lance hated seeing Keith this way, it was unnatural. Keith had always been the stoic, strong member of the team. Seeing him like this, he looked so small and vulnerable, it made Lances stomach churn.

Lance waited a couple more ticks before quietly grabbing Keith's attention "Keith? Dude, what's going on? Why are you here?"

Keith looked up. Blue eyes met amethyst and Keith's fear was no longer hidden. He gently reached down and grabbed the hem of his shirt before lifting it over his shoulders. He stood there facing Lance, doubt lingering in his mind.

At this point Lance was utterly confused, but then Keith turned around and all thought escaped him. Just below Keith's shoulderbalde was an angry purple... spot? With tiny veins that spread about an inch in each diraction before fading back under the skin.

" Oh my god." Lance rose from his messy mattress to get a closer look at Keith's back. He didn't get very far though, Keith was no longer using the wall to support him, his legs were shaking and lance wasted no time gestureing to the bed so he could sit.

Sit wasn't the right word, kieth all but collapsed on the edge of the inlet. Lance walked around him and sat so he could see Keith's right shoulder, now that he was closer he could see the different layers of purple that existed amid the main pale lavender that he had seen from afar.

Lance brought his right hand up and gently ghosted over the purple flash. Underneath his fingertips Keith was tense as if he expected something very terrible to happen or as if he was experiencing pain. Keith was frozen to the touch , but it hardly bothered Lance anymore, maybe he had gotten used to it maybe he was just so focused on what terror lay in front of him that he didn't notice.

Aside from Keith being freezing, lance could feel his ragged breathing and rapid beating heart. It looked like he was on the verge of panic. A foreign feeling to the red paliadin no doubt.

"Keith, what is this?"

"I-I don't know"

Lance thought about that for a minute, he didn't know what to do. Keith should be asking for help. It dawned on him then, Keith _was_ asking for help! Why the quiznak was _Keith_ asking _lance_ of all people? "Let me call Shiro-"

"No!" Lance froze. "Don't call Shiro, please"

Confused and stunned at the sudden out burst, Lance asked, " Keith why did you come to me for help? You hate me! Why not go to Shiro or Allura or Pidge even?"

"I can't do that to Shiro! You were right! And now I have the color of the monsters that tortured him on my back. I can't do that to him!"

Lance was horror struck "Keith, your not a monster! You know that! Shiro knows that!"

" What if he freaks out and tries to attack me?"

"What do you mean? You could beat Shiro in a fight. I've seen you in training."

"It wouldn't be training! It would be a death match! The only way I could even hope to survive would be to hurt Shiro! I can't do that! I would never do that! But my death? That would hurt Shiro even more."

Lance had fallen silent. Keith was right. If Shiro has one of his episodes and tried to attack Keith... Lance wasn't sure Keith would even try to defend himself. "Alright. What about Allura? She knows more about... everything than anyone else. Minus a few earth cultures. She kinda flipped when I milked kaltineker"

"Allura would rather kill me than help me." Keith shivered and pulled his arms closer to his body. Lance immediately fealt guilty. If Lance was cold just being around Keith, he couldn't imagine how freezing Keith felt himself.

"God, Keith, put your shirt back on your gonna freeze to death." Lance grabbed Keith shirt off the floor before proceeding to take his jacket off. Once Keith had his dark gray shirt back over his shoulder, though it had taken longer than expected, lance draped his jacket around Keith. It wouldn't be enough.

Lance slid behind Keith before wrapping his arms around him, letting his chin rest on Keith's left shoulder taking extra care to avoid the violate discoloration. Keith immediately tensed. "Lance? What are you doing?"

"Keith you're freezing! I don't know much about half galra people but this can't be healthy. I'm helping you get warm." Keith said nothing but he gradually relaxed back into his privious state of tension, no longer worried about lance.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, Keith's shivers had decreased dramatically but he was still frozen to the touch. "Keith?"

"Ya?"

"You really think this might have something to do with you being part galra?"

"I really don't know, Lance"

They fell into silence again, but this wasn't comfortable. It was full of questions, questions that would get answers soon enough. Keith started shivering again and lance pulled his back closer to his chest in an effort to keep him warm, he realized moments later that Keith wasn't shivering because he was cold. "Keith?" Lance prodded hoping he would tell him what was causing his body to tremor.

"It's spreading, Lance" Keith said. His voice was quiet and terrified as he drew shaky breaths in.

"What do you mean" He was confused. Was this gonna get worse?

"What do you think it means? It's getting bigger!" Keith snapped at lance pulling out of his arms so he could turn and face him.

"How do you know?"

Keith's amathyst eyes averted Lance's ocean blue ones as he answerd. It was nothing more than a shaky breath, Lance felt like it held the entire world. Keith had said something but it was so quiet Lance didn't hear "what was that?"

"It _hurts_ Lance! I know it's spreading, getting bigger because I can feel it! I can feel it traveling across my skin and I can feel it spread through my vains, and it hurts- !" Keith was yelling but his voice broke and he looked up and meet Lances eyes, his own becoming blurry with frustrated tears that he refused to let fall. Lance could see him clench his teeth and dig his nails into his palms, before he hung his head and breathed out the single worst sentence Lance had ever heard, "It hurts so much..."

There was so much pain woven between the words. It's was sad. It was desperate. It was _broken._ Keith was broken, or at least he was braking. As Lance looked at Keith he could almost see the crakes forming, the little pieces that were being chipped off of something that had already be weathered to a dangerous state. Something so small it couldn't afford to lose much else. Lance had seen things like this before.

The result was always the same.

Lance placed a hand on Keith's left shoulder to grab his attention again." Keith, I don't know what's going on and I don't know how to fix it, but you need to promise me something. Promise me that you wont give up! Promise me!"

Keith's head rose up slowly, but his eyes where still cast down. "I- I don't know-"

"Keith! Promise me!"

"I promise"

"Your not alone anymore Keith, I'm going to help you" Lance wrapped his arms around Keith, whose head fell onto Lance's shoulder. Lace placed on hand on the back of Keith's head and absentmindedly messed with his mullet, hopping it would help calm him. Lance's other hand was on the small of Keith's back rubbing soothing circles into the fabric of his own jacket that was still draped over Keith's shoulders. Keith was practically limp in his arms, but he didn't mind. They sat like this for a small while.

Lance tried to push his determination at Keith. He was trying to show Keith that he wasn't going to leave him behind. "We should probably get some sleep, Allura wants us up early for training tomorrow"

Keith stood, placing his stoic mask back on before gently pulling Lance's army jacket from around his shoulders. He tossed it to Lance before stumbling to the door. The pearl White door slid open soundlessly. Keith turned around looking lance in th eyes, but it wasn't all fear and pain as it had been seconds ago there was something else lingering under the surface of his amethyst orbs. "Think you can actually remember this bonding moment?"

Lance laughed "I think I'll manage. Night Keith."

Keith noded before leaving the room, his footfalls where nonexistent as he traveled back to his own bare room.

Lance tried, he really did, but nothing could pry the image of Keith in pain from his mind. He didn't know why it bothered him so much, but he didn't like it and he knew he would've done anything to keep Keith's pain at bay.

Lance was plagued by a sleepless night full of Galra purple and plaladin black, locked in a death match.

In the end both die.


	3. Nightmares

Keith couldn't see anything. Every where he turned was shrouded in the murkiest shade of black, making it look as if the darkness itself was moving, breathing, living.

Keith didn't move, he didn't make a sound. This place, wherever he was, he knew it was dangerous. This kind of dark was unnatural, it was like watching a horror movie and knowing the jump scare was coming but not being entirely ready for it.

The air behind him moved, Keith wiped around standing in a fighting position, but nothing was there. That's when he herd it, the voice. It sounded like someone trying to get a signal, soft and crakling, but underneath, words were being mumbled. The voice radiated malice and rage, sending spikes of panic rushing through Keith's veins.

The voice was everywhere, whispering,taunting, saying everything and nothing at the same time. Keith was going crazy. He had to move, try to get away from this creature that lurked in the shadows playing games with his mind and eyes.

Keith took one last look around him, before pinpointing where he assumed the creature was and made to slowly back away. He didn't move. He tried again, terrified to take his eyes away from where the disembodied voice must have been standing, watching him. It felt like there was something stuck to his feet. Risking everything, he glanced down and saw that everything below his feet was submerged in an oil like substance that was quickly rising. Or mayabe he was skinking. Within the seconds it had taken him to consider that perhaps he was sinking, the grime had consumed his knees and was quickly advancing on his waste. Definitely sinking.

Something cold and hard wrapped around his neck and began to squeeze. Keith's eyes shot up, but all he could see was a slivery purple arm and shoulder emerged from the shadows that had seemed to close around him like the walls in a room, slowly becoming smaller and smaller.

The figure that held him from fully sinking into the black goop cane into sight, it made Keith choke more than the hand that had closed around his windpipe.

Keith had never been afraid of drowning until now, the sludge that curled around his waste threatened to close around him completely. Keith had never been afraid of small spaces until now, the shadows around him seeming to close in more and more with each passing tick. Keith had never been afraid, actually and fully terrified, of Shiro until now, the rage in his eyes that seeped into the rest of him as his robotic arm closed even tighter around Keith's throat. The anamilistic rage that seethed off Shiro was enough to make Keith want to run, but he was trapped by the sludge and the shadows and by Shiro himself.

Shiro made a small noise that sounded very close to a growl. "Do you see this?" He asked, his voice dangerously quiet. "Do you see this!" He yelled and shook Keith back and forth by the neck, his arm had started glowing brighter making the wall of shadows more prominent and the liquid more menacing. "You did this! I lost everything because of you!"

"That was the Galra! Shiro I'm not your enemy!" He didn't know how he had made any sound, with the pressure on his windpipe he should have blacked out ages ago but he just continued to feel the pain of every bone in his neck break one by one.

"Your part Galra! You are the enemy! Your the monster!" Shiro shouted spraying Keith with angry spit.

A purple claw crept out from behind Shiro and started stroking his shoulder "Shiro! Look-" his words were cut short when Shiro tightened his grip even more. Shiro was still yelling but Keith didn't hear him, the claw had traveled up to Shiro's neck and was slightly caressing the spot that where Shiro held Keith from.

Keith's eyes widened and he yelled as the claw slashed across Shiro's jugular spraying Keith with deep crimson. Shiro was silenced, but he was still glareing at Keith, before he collapsed into the oil that held Keith still as it slowly rose. Horrified Keith watched as Shiro's hand disappeared under the sickening surface.

A familiar laugh drew Keith back to the spot that Shiro had occupied before the claw had slew him in cold blood. He stifled a scream as he saw the person the claw belonged to.

It was him.

Well not exactly. It looked like him, enough that it was recognizable, but he was a pale shade of purple with claws instead of fingers and big fuzzy ears that started at his jawline before curving up and centering above his forehead before disappearing underneath his black hair. He had a tail. It was thin and a deeper purple that his skin tone,but not by much, it curled around its owners booted feet, revealing a small spade shaped barb at the very tip of the appendage. The spade whipped back and forth taughtingly, Keith didn't need to feel it to know the edge was razor sharp. It's eyes were yellow and slited as it watched Keith stuggle to breath.

"Who are you?" Kieth asked his voice wavering, he knew the answer, but he didn't want it to be the truth.

It laughed again, a horrible sound that vibrated the very molecules in the room. "Come now," it said, it sounded just like him "you know the answer to that don't you?" It watched him, expecting Keith to answer, but Keith had lost his ability to breath "I'm you." It whispered before a grin stretched across its face making its ears twitch.

Kieth started sinking again, he clawed desperately at the liquid as it rose to his chest. He could hear the other Keith laughing. "Your the monster, Keith!" It taunted in a singsong voice that echoed off the shadowy walls. "You're gonna kill them all!" Keith was up to his neck, but he wished he couldn't see. The thing had moved aside to show a pile of bodies, the paladins bodies. Bloodied and brused as if they had been tourtued before the killing blow that all of them sported on their neck, just as Shiro had.

Movement. He saw movement. Lance's hand had risen just slightly, his throat had yet to be slashed. The thing watched as lance and Keith made eye contact. Keith's mouth was submerged so he couldn't scream as the thing went over and grabbed lance by the scruff of his uniform before dragging him closer to the spot Keith was dying in.

The last thing Keith saw before the sludge engulfed his vision was the monster that held his face carving into Lance's neck, the blood splashing on its smiling face, staining the lavender color a deep red.

000

"No!" Kiths eyes snapped open with alarming speed, while his legs and arms flailed about until he connected with the hard castle floor. He could still feel the vibrations his scared had left on his lips. He didn't care. He had other things to worry about.

Lance

Without thinking he bolted down the hall, his feet clapping loudly as he sprinted to the blue paladins chambers. The door crawled open as of it was trying to conceal what was behind it for as long as possible, because it was to terrible for the out side world to see. Great now even doors made Keith anxious.

Inside the room nothing had changed since the last time he was there, meer hours ago, other than the Cuban boy who now lay peacefully inside his nest of blankets.

Keith stepped back to allow the door to once again close Lance's room from the rest of the castle. Keith must have returned to his room at some point. Now he found himself sitting with his back to his own door as he silently cried.

It was just a dream.

It had felt so real. Keith was no stranger to nightmares, he's had plenty in his time, but that? That was beyond terrifying. Keith could still hear his own voice resonating from that monsters mouth, slipping from between its pointed teeth like a serpent slipping between branches in a tall tree.

It was just a dream.

Keith repeated this in his head, over and over and over again, just trying to believe the silent words that bounced around his head.

Keith rose from his spot on the Snow White floor and mad his way into his bathroom. He splashed cold water over his face letting the feeling of the fridgid liquid linger. "This is real" he muttered "that was just a dream."

When he looked up, he nearly screamed. He backed away from his own reflection before clumsily tearing his shirt away from his sweating skin.

It had spread.

The pale lavender now covered his entire back. It had traveled the entire length o his back and down his arms before fading away by his elbows. The Alien color had also started weaving its way ground his torso and into his chest and abs. His hope died like an ember flickering it's last few heartbeats before going dark.

An alarm by his bed sounded. Training would start soon. Keith didn't have time to deal with his condition no matter how much the pain had increased. Grabbing a gray t-shirt and his red jacket. He left his room and descended the halls to the training room.

It was one day of training. He could make it through that without anyone noticing his pain right? After he could always find Lance again.

Keith could hear the other paladins talking just up ahead. Lance glanced at him silently asking if he was ok. Lance was worried about him? He must have really lost it last night. Keith gave him a look that said we should talk later, before he made eye contact with Allura. Her gaze was cold as steel and just as menacing, she hated him and she was determined to show him just how much. From that fleeting glance he could tell. She wasn't trying to hide it.

Today would break him, possibly more than she even knows.


	4. White walls

"Today you will be pairing off! Hunk with Keith, lance with Pidge. Hunk, lance, your objective will be to try and shoot your partner while they will be trying to take you down. During this exercise I will be calling each and everyone of you to the castles bridge in order to go over your lions new found abilities. We want to make sure we have them documented for future purposes. Shiro, as head of Voltron and team leader you will start." Allura's voice was crisp and authoritative. She wasn't messing around today. She seemed agitated, her hands griped the edge of her own training suit, he shoulders were drawn back, and her eyes told nothing, hard as steel as always.

Ever since Allura found out about Keith being Galra, her eyes lost all of their gentleness. They became cold and unforgiving. Keith always felt ashamed when he met her gaze, as if everything that had ever happened to her was his fault. He deserved her hatred. She glanced at Keith and saw a monster. Soon Keith might actually become the monster that lurks in her nightmares.

Lance came to stand next to Keith. "Shouldn't I be partnered with Keith, princesses?" Keith nearly cringed away from Lance's voice as it bounced around the room causing the phantom of his words to slowly fade from the room.

Allura snapped her gaze to meet Lance's, who visibly shrunk away. "No Lance. I want you to work with Pidge, that way you can work on hitting a small target at close range. I want Hunk to work with Keith so he can hit a fast moving target." Allura turned her metallic gaze to Keith, slowly taking over every phisical feature with poorly hidden disgust. "Now if no one has anything else to say, Shiro, let's report to the bridge"

Allura soared on last hateful look at Keith before stalking out of the training room, Shiro right on her heels.

Dreading being alone with Alurra, Keith moved slowly to the armory, trying to look as if every step didn't send spikes of pain shooting through every nerve in his body. His red Paladin armor was hanging on the far right end of the small inlet, the blue armor was suspended to the left.

Lance had already donned the lower half of his armor and was currently working on the straps to secure his chest plate. He noticed Keith's pain immediately. The slight limp in his step and the tightness in his shoulders, the clouded look the normally alert dusty purple orbs. "Keith? You ok dude?"

Keith glanced behind Lance to make sure Hunk and Pidge were out of earshot, evidently they were only meters behind Lance and could easily hear their conversation."I'm fine, Lance" Keith could hear the strain in his own voice, he didn't even believe himself.

Lance looked like he was going to protest, he stayed silent and continued to set his straps. Kieth got his lower armor without to much agony but the top soon became impossible. Something grabbed the edge of his right shoulder pad and pulled them into place extracting a pained Yelp from Keith. "Sorry" Lance's voice was soft, almost a whisper. His hands tracked across the back of Keith's jacket to his left shoulder. He wrestled the padding into palace before tightening it down. Keith bit down on his lip hard, lance didn't know about it spreading yet. There was no reason to worry him so Keith hid his pain behind clenched teeth and bleeding lips.

Hunk was waiting for Keith once his armor was fully attached. Hunk summoned his Bayard from his suit, he moved to the opposite side of the room hefting his gun to hip level. Keith summoned his own Bayard, pressing himself to the wall of the arena with the top of his sword just barely scraping the blue sheen floor.

To the right, Pidge had her green grappling knife hovering inches from her helmet's visor. Lance had his sniper rifle drawn and his eye lined with the sight.

They waited, waited, the room itself vibrates as a loud horn is sounded and all four paladins spring into action. Predictably Hunk had started his barrage by shooting strait at Keith. He doged to the right before rushing forward, only to veer off as more blasts careened at him.

10

Keith dived and weaved between shots examining Hunks movements, looking for a weakness.

15

Keiths adrenaline was pounding, even with the natural pain reliever, each step and movement was slower that it should be and caused pain beyond imaginable to corse through him, white spots danced him his vision.

30

A yellow shot whistles inches by his helmet causing there to be a small singe mark to could his already poor vision.

There!

34\. 34 shots until Hunk had to reset his Bayard, that was Keith's opening, he just had to wait it out. Keith evaded until his back was up against the wall.

20

He had to start moving to Hunk if he wanted to knock him down while he was essentially reloading. Keith danced forward, evading every shot that came his way.

32

Keith was mere meters from Hunk. Hunks fingers pressed down on the trigger twice more. To far. Keith was still too far. With a furious yell Keith flipped the last few feet bringing his sword down from behind his back.

 _Click_

Keith's shoulder exploded with excruciating, venomous pain that laced its way from his shoulder down to his fingers and toes, numbing them with pain. He heard a scream. A gut wrenching, agonizing, guttural scream before the floor came up to meet his head, greeting him like a old friend. Keith was Vaguely aware of the shouts of panic that drifted and Aimlessly to his ears, the two sets of hands that hovered over his armor, three of them warm, one was cold to the touch. He was aware of the blinding pale blue light that reflected off the training rooms pristine white floor, where he now lay drowning in his pain.

Darkness engulfed every corner of his mind, plunging him into the empty cavern where the walls closed in and the floor slowly rose. Where two yellow eyes and a malicious laugh slaughtered his friends and watched Keith drown in a never ending loop.

000

It had taken a whole 20 seconds for lance to shoot Pidge. 

It started out fine. The buzzer sounded and Pidge sprang into action, shifting and flipping over laser bolts from the other side of the training room. Lance took about three shots before he stopped fireing all together. Pidge took her opportunity, seeing his pause as a chance to get closer and hopefully knock him down. 

She should have seen it. Pidge launches herself forward. He just watched her through the scope of his sniper rifle, waiting. What was he waiting for? 

She was seconds away from Lance, practically on top of him. Pidge pushes power into her legs so she could strike from above. Just before she brought her Bayard down, Lance snapped his gun so it pressed against her armpit before pulling the trigger, sending her clattering to the ground with a loud "oof" 

"Pidge!" Lance raced to her side. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I thought I had it on low!" With a quick sharp movement Pidge slammed her fist into his face, he lost his balance and landed next to her. 

"You son of a bitch! You shot me!" Pidge leaned over him, glaring. 

"That was the exercise!" Lance defender 

Pidge pushes herself off the floor and staggered over to the bench that lay against the east wall. She carefully started us trapping her armor. A minuet later she had detached her shoulder pads and chest plate, along with the under suit that lay over her baggy sweater. She gently prodded at the exposed skin once she pulled her hoodie off. 

Thankfully it would only bruise. It would bruise, but it could have been a lot worse. 

Lance sauntered over and spared a glance at where his bolt had struck "you gonna be ok?" 

"I'll live."

Pidge looked up to try and make a joke out of it but stopped when she saw where Lance's gaze lead. He was watching the other two train. Hunk was fireing rapidly just turning the atmosphere into a blazing storm of energy beams all hurtling toward one target. Keith, avoided every single one of them. Flipping and vaulting past all of them. It was stunning to watch him fight. Pidge often found herself watching him train through the cameras she had placed so she could study the others without being in the room. 

It was because she studied his fighting style so much that she noticed why lance was frowing so deeply. Keith was holding back. Normally he was almost fluid when he moved. Now he was jerky and hesitant.

"Lance!" Pidge was drawn from her analysis by the black Paladin entering the room. "Allura wants to see you next. I wouldn't keep her waiting, she's in a bad mood today" 

Lance sighed dramatically before apologizing to Pidge again and proceeding to detach his own armor. When he emerged from the armory he glanced back at Keith for a split second then turned his attention to Pidge. "Call me of anything happens"

"What do you mean?" Pidge was confused, she had never seen him so... concerned before. 

"I don't know. I just have a feeling. It's probably nothing." With that he left the room, heading for the control center where Allura waited. 

Shiro sent her a sideways look "what was that about?" 

Pidge shook her head " I don't know he's probably just worried Keith will hurt Hunk's feelings or something stupid like that. What about you? It didn't take you long to talk to Allura." 

Shiro shifted uncomfortably beside her "that's because I haven't unlocked any new powers for the black lion, there was nothing to record so I was sent back down here to check up on you guys." 

"Other than Lance shooting me, everything's-" the scream that cut her off sent terror through her spine. She watched helplessly as Keith was thrown across the room in slow motion. The residual crack from his helmet smashing into the ground has Pidge on her feet in an instant. Pidge could just barely hear Shiro behind her over her own heart beat that thrummed in her ears, reminding her not to panic. 

Eventually the world around her speed back up and she was kneeling next to Keith's still form. She hastily checked for any signs of blood, nothing. She flipped through other possible injuries and began searching for the cause of his gut wrenching scream.

God,she had never heard a sound like that. It was broken and pain filled and shook her to her very core, but fot that sound to come out of Keith, one of the strongest, most stubborn people she knew turned a terrifying scream into the stuff of nightmares.

Pidge shook herself out of her thoughts, she had to focus. After about ten minuets of running through her medical history, anything that could make someone scream like that, she found nothing. No broken bones, no blood, no head wound, nothing. Worry bloomed in her chest. "Shiro, help me get him to the infirmary." 

Shiro was ghost white, his eyes were unfocused terrified, his breathing wa raged. He was panicking. Made sense, the man he had seen as his younger brother just screamed bloody murder before knocking himself out. Pidge didn't have time for this. "Shiro, listen to me. He could have internal bleeding, his lung could have collapsed, he could be hemorrhaging." 

"What does that mean?" Shiro's voice was quiet. 

"He could be dying, Shiro. Keith could be dying. We need to get him to the infirmary so I can help him." 

Shiro slipped his hands under Keith's shoulders and knees, cradling him to Shiro's chest carefully. Shiro took off to the north section of the castle. Pidge followed telling over her shoulder as she exited the training room. " Hunk, stay there! If lance comes back tell him where Keith is!" 

Hunk yelled something after her but she was moving to fast to hear. Pidge skidded through the halls and exploded into the infirmary, Shiro had already lager Keith down on the cold metal table in the center of the room.

Shiro was still pale, he had his eyes glued to Keith's face, silently willing him to open his eyes and be ok. Pidge rushed around the room grabbing scanners, bandages, syringes, anything that might help. though the tech from Altea was different from earth equipment, Pidge gave her best guess as to what each device did. Pidge returned from her scramble and gave Shiro a cold look. 

He didn't notice

She needed to keep Shiro out, she couldn't have him breaking done right here. "Shiro, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to go make sure Hunk is ok. Can you do that?" 

Shiro's eyes held despair "No. no. I can't leave him like this."

"Shiro, I need you to calm down." 

"No. Pidge! I- I can't leave him- I was supposed to protect him. He's- he's my brother." 

"I cant help him if I have to help you." It was harsh, Pidge knew it was but she needed to get him focused so she could help Keith before- before it's to late. "Go find Hunk and stay with him." Shiro bucked tword the door refusing to lose sight of Keith for as long as possible. "And if you see lance send him to me please." Pidge called after him. 

The room fell into an Awful quiet the seemed to suck the very life out of everything that stood in it's wake. 

First thing first, remove his armor. It was a lot harder when the armor was attached to a prone form but she managed to detach all of it with out having to cut the straps. Next step, removing his shirt. She tugged at the red jacket that hung over his shoulders, the skin on his arms was a pale purple that went all the way to his fingers. Curious, Pidge set to removing his gray t shirt. She pulled it up over his abs and to his chest before raising each arm over his hard to pull the sleeve through. With one final tug the shirt came lose, the sight underneath sickening.

"What the hell?" 


	5. Little feelings

They always referred to it as a little voice in the back of your mind. The little voice that would alert you to things that you couldn't possibly know but you could feel it.

Lance could feel it. It wasn't a whisper in the back of his consciousness, it was a ragged harsh voice yelling in his ears that only got louder as allura drowned on and on about lions and powers and discipline.

No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the voice to go fade even the slightest. The feeling of dread settled in his stomach, weighing him down. Something happened, something must have happened.

"Lance, are you listening?" Her voice was impatient and icy. Lance met her eyes. He saw rage. Unbridled, hellfire rage that made her blue eyes seem red. Her eyes held so much emotion, but it was all so different from the eyes his mind worried about, her eyes didn't hold pain or fear behind their lilac prison.

"Sorry Allura, I'm just a little worried about," What was he gonna say? He was worried about the person she wanted to send out an airlock more than anything else? Probably not the best trail to take, "Pidge. I brused her shoulder pretty bad during training, I was supposed to hit her but I never meant to cause any actual damage."

Allura's eyes sofened, now resembling the soft white clouds that would drift over his home back in Cuba, he never saw clouds quite as white since he moved into the garrison. Deserts don't have clouds, and when they did it was storm clouds. Allura glanced down at the dull holo desk in front of her, "We have gone over everything. You may return to the training room and see Pidge. Could you send Hunk up to see me as well?"

"Of course, princess" Lance rose from his chair, casting a look over his shoulder before exiting the control room, leaving allura to her silent rage that she refused to let go of.

Seconds after Lance was out of eyesight, his heart beat rapidly, the Spence of overwhelming dread once again attaching to his lungs, stronger than before. He was running. His sneakers slapping loudly against the hallway floors. Every turn he took was another identical passage that seemed to go on forever. Surly it had not been this far _to_ the command room. The halls blended together in blue and white, his hair swaying just in front of his eyes ans he sprinted from corner to corner. Something was wrong he could tell. He could feel it.

That when he saw him, curled up in a ball with his back pressed against the pearly strait of the wall while his hands clutches onto his hair and tears rolled down his cheeks. His knees where drawn up and his white hair was sticking to his forehead, covering his eyes. His quiet, broken sobbing bouncing from the ceiling to Lance's heart, cracking something that once lived there.

"Shiro? What's wrong? What happened?" Lance had only seen Shiro cry once, when they had almost lost the red Paladin to Haggar. Lance was terrified what could have driven him to... this.

"I was supposed to protect him. I'm his big brother. I'm all he has. I was supposed to protect him. I couldn't, not from Haggar, not even from training!" Shiro buried his face in his knees. Lance hardly noticed, because Shiro had confirmed what the little voice had been shouting.

Something happened to Keith.

Leaving Shiro behind, lance rushed to the last place he had seen the red Paladin, the training room. The door had is shut from inactivity, Lance had never seen them move so slowly. There was no flash of red that contrasted aginst the blue tint. Keith was it there.

His eyes fell on the only other color in the room, yellow. Hunk stared at a single spot on the floor, his stance was unsteady and his Bayard lay several feet away, as if he had grown the tool out of fear. "Hunk what happened?" Lance stood chest to chest with the soft hearted cook in order to grab his attention.

"It was an accident... I don't mean to... I thought he could take it, oh god!" Hunk rambled, wildly flinging his hands around, while his eyes darted back and forth, dipping in and out of his unshed tears.

"Hunk! Where. Is. Keith." Lance hadn't meant for his words to sound threatening but the terrified look in hunk's eyes strengthened it hold as Hunk shakily pointed to the door. His eyes emptied their contents silently as Hunk focused and pulled himself out of his daze at Lance's harsh words.

"Infirmary, Pidge is with him." Lance was already running, is legs protesting the fast speed his feet and mind moved. What if he was killed? What if he would have to stop being a Paladin? What if Pidge saw his back? All of this crossed his head while he sprinted through the castle of lions to the double glass doors that lead into the infirmary.

That lead to Keith.

His feet knew the way, he had visited that room enough times to know the route by heart. He slowed his pace until he was standing inches from the dusted glass. Inside he could make out a hazy shape moving around and what looked like a blob laying on a matalic surface, Keith he guessed. Lance's heart stopped, Pidge must have figured it out, no way would she have missed a patch of purple on Keith pale shoulder.

His hand hovered over the smooth frosted glass, four coulding his thoughts. Now that Keith had Pidge, he wouldn't need Lance anymore, she could actually help him. Maybe even cure him.

Lance knew he should walk away, leave Keith to the actual medics, but he just couldn't get the image of Kieth in his room, broken. He hated seeing Keith like that, so unsure of himself, so scared. That was enough to push lance through the glass, just in time to see Pidge scramble backwards away from a shirtless Keith, "what the hell?"

Lance eyes widened when the rested on the fallen , Keith's entire back had changed along with most of his arms. It was steady growing along the back of his neck and across his chest and stomach. He was visibly shaking, though from pain or cold Lance didn't know. His eyes were shielded by his kids that were screwed tightly. His mouth twitched as if he was trying to speak.

"Pidge is he ok?" She has her back pressed against the far wall, hands splayed across the smooth surface. She had her eyes glued on Keith as if he were a wild animal faking an injury in order to draw its pray in.

"Pidge!" Lance tried again, drawing her attention. "Is he ok? What happened in the training room?" She shook her head, a wild ember catching fire inside her eyes.

"No, you don't get to ask questions! Your not even fazed by this! What is going on?!" Her voice was low and calm but her true intentions were clear. She wanted to know what was happening and no one was going to move until she got answers.

Lance told her, everything, from the small patch on his shoulder blade, to how it physically hurt Keith to the point where he could feel it spreading, and how he couldn't seem to be warm, how his skin was always freezing. Pidge listened without interruption, and she never let her gaze stray far from the prone figure on the table.

Once Lance had finished, Pidge asked "So... he's turning Galran? Why now? What changed?" Always the scientist.

"I don't know ,Pidge, but he can't do this alone. You didn't see him last night, these marks are changing him. And it terrifies Keith. I've never seen him like that and frankly, I never want to see it again." Lance let his blue orbs slip to Keith for a fraction of a second before he focused on his hands in his lap. He had always been know for being overactive, never sitting still. His hands lay absolutely limp, almost like stone or wood. "Is he going to be ok?"

Pidge hesitated, glancing between Lance's sad eyes and Keith's brused back, "He wasn't actually hurt during training, the shot must have just aggravated his... skin" she choked that last part out, as of it had gotten stuck in her throat like a lie.

"Why is he so cold?"

"I assume it's because Galra don't produce much body heat, witch is why most of them have fur or scales. Keith doesn't have that." Her initial shock and worn, giving away to her naturally curious nature. "You said this started last night?"

Last night? Had it really only been one night since Keith came staggering into his room, falling apart at the seems? "Yeah I guess, but I'm not sure if this was happening before he came to me."

Pidge leveled lance with the look, the look you get when you get a visitor at your door saying that someone you loved was dead, when they know this will break you but they do it so often they are immune to the tears shed over the news they bring. "Lance, this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better, you know that right? If this spread this fast in one night, I would be surprised if Keith wasn't fully purple by morning. We also don't know of other changes that could occur-"

"Other changes?" What could possible be worse than this?

"We don't know how many of the physical traits of a Galra will surface, I just don't know Lance" Pidge started gathering items from small work tables positioned around Keith, presumably equipment she grabbed when they thought Keith was dying.

"But you'll help him right? I mean we have to do something, it's hurting him." Lance gently placed a hand on the back of his neck, brushing the skin and hair while he worried his bottom lip.

"I'll run some tests when he wakes up." Lance knew his features relaxed dramatically, he couldn't help it, Keith was going to be fine. "Lance, I need you to understand something, I don't think I'll be able to cure him. Best I can do is find a way to ease his pain until the transfer is done and he's not Keith anymore."

Lance flinched. Not Keith anymore? He was changing, that much was clear, but was he really going to _change?_

Lance snapped to attention when a scream, louder than any he had heard, broke his thoughts and shattered any hope that had settled in his chest.

"No!" Keith belted , pushing himself off the silvery surface, his legs collapsing underneath his body weight. His speech rose and fell in volume as his eyes flew across the room looking at everything but not seeing anything.

Lance was moveing seconds after the scream shattered the air, but by the time he got to Keith's side, the red Paladin had fallen into unconsciousness on the cold floor, trembleing thouh from the nightmare or the cool floor lance didn't know. Lance gently pulled Keith back up into the table before leveling his gaze with Pidge's, no longer sad, "This is going to be a long night isn't it?"

Pidge nodded, her back pressed against the far wall while her hands splayed across the smooth surface and her eyes held terror of a thousand men.


	6. Feel your life

Lance had stood to the side while Pidge ran different tests, but he never took his eyes off of the red Paladin that lay prone and unmoving on the silver table that stood in the center of he room.

The testes has taken nearly another hour but once they were done Pidge had advised lance to take Keith to his room, that way he wouldn't freak out if he woke up. Lance had corrected her with venom in his voice, when he wakes up, before slipping his arms under Keith's knees and shoulders. Lance didn't look back when he exited the frosted glass though he did check every hall before walking past, Keith wouldn't want the others to find out like this.

Lance tried, he really did, not to notice how Keith's head was resting on his shoulder, or the was his murky locks fell over his lidded eyes. He tried not to notice how his hands were curled into fists. He tried not to notice that his shoulder were tense in Lance's arms, but more than anything he desperately tried not to notice the tendrils that had crept up Keith's neck, making it look like he was sick or dying.

Lance shivered when Keith dying crosses his mind. He would be fine right? He's Keith he'll always be fine... right?

The red Paladin's door opens with a slight sound of air, and what lay inside crushed Lance's heart while he subconsciously held Keith tighter to his chest.

Keith room was completely bare, looking as clean and pristine as the day they had moved in. If Lance didn't know any better he would have though no one lived in here. The blankets were made nice and neat, folding over before the stacked pillows that were propped against the wall. The dresser in the far corner looked new, as if he had never even used it.

Lance stepped across the threshold before settling Keith down on top of the made blankets as gently as he could, the color contrast of his flame red jacket and the dusty blue of the cloth struck Lance hard for reasons he couldn't place. Lance took the time to examine every last thing about Keith's quarters.

Everything was untouched, even the bathroom looked barren. The door closed almost silently, but not silently enough, the small sound made Lance turn. His breath froze. Red, Deeper than Keith's jacket was smeared across the back of the panel, small indentations where located where the blood was thickest. Keith had punched his door hard enough to make his hands bleed.

Lance's thoughts raced, this was wrong, Keith was supposed to be strong and invincible, he wasn't supposed to break. He wasn't supposed to break. Even with his new complexion, he hadn't broken, he had gone to training and fought with everything he had. Lance traced the dried blood with his eyes, what could have made him break this bad?

Lance flinched when he heard Keith's whimper, he was sitting upright, leaning heavily on the wall the pillows were stacked aginst, a look of pain contorting his normally beautiful face. Lance had a hard time remembering the last time his face didn't hold pain. "You weren't supposed to see that" Keith whispered.

"Keith, what happened here?" Lance moved to sit next to him, hovering his hand over Keith's shoulder not sure if he wanted to be touched.

Keith sighed, "it's a long story."

Lance placed his hand drawing those tired violet eyes " I've got time"

Keith hesitated, drawing in a few shaky breaths " It was a mission with the Blades. They called me to help with a rescue mission for a small planet on the far side of the galaxy, Alurra was extinct to send me away. The planet was inhabited by forest people , very superstitious, but we knew we had to go down and meet their distress signal. Kolivan told me not to interact with any of them, the generals of that mission went to meet with the queen of that civilization. While they were in there a female of that spices approached me, handed me a pice of bark with a painting of a little girl on it, she was asking me to bring her daughter back to her. I... I told her we would bring her daughter back. But the mission went wrong, we lost over three dozen blade members to that mission, we saved everyone we could. We hadn't found the little girl so I ran back into the facility... I had no back up. I fought hundreds of droids to reach the cells. When I got there I found her sitting in the far corner, hurt but still alive. I carried her out of that compound, but there were so many Galra soldiers, I took out as many as I could. We had made it to the door, I was running, I remember the girl screaming in my ears... I felt that bolt tear through my skin, there was no shock no moment of confusion I felt every second of that shot as it tore my skin apart. Thankfully Kolivan noticed I had gone back. I saw my own blood and the droid being destroyed then I passed out." Keith had wrapped his arms around his midsection as if he was reliving the pain of the shot "when I woke up I went to find the little girl, I found her corpse. She was dead. It didn't make sense I got her out and she didn't have that slash across her throat. I had asked kolivan... he said that he had killed her. He said that she had begged to die, that she didn't want to be in pain anymore, that she didn't want her mother to see her like that, so he killed her. When we got back to the village, the mother ran up to me... saw we didn't have her daughter and cried. She called me a liar, a murderer, a monster... I failed that girl. I let her die. I remember yelling at kolivan, asking him why he had killed her and he just looked at me and said that it's what the girl wanted. I argued that no one wants to die. I will never forget his answer to that, 'when your in that much pain, death seems a mercy you thought was impossible' they took me back to the castle that night, as soon as I was in my room I...I just couldn't stop myself, I was angry, and sad, and scared. I meant to clean it, but every time I was just about to, all I could see was that mother calling me a liar and that little girls scream when I got shot. I couldn't bring my self to clean the fire or fix the scar from the bolt. I just can't do it"

Lance sat silently, he didn't know what to say. Well he did but he wasn't sure if Keith wanted to hear it. Lance could almost sense that he heard that line several times after the incident. "I'm sorry"

Keith cracked a tiny smile "You know how many times I herd that? Or the it's not your fault? That little woman lost her daughter because I couldn't get her out in time. And I know her death wasn't my fault, but ever since then I can't eat without thinking about her, I can't sleep, and now this?" He held up his now lavender fingers "If that girl was going to die, I should have died with her"

"No, that little girl didn't get killed Keith, she choose not to put that on her mother, she knew her injuries were to great to let her truly live. She knew death was better, she was greatful that you gave her the chance to die among friends instead of in the hands of the enemy." Lance reasoned

"I know... or at least my mind knows, its just... hard" Keith sighed glancing at lance before letting his gaze fall to his hands

"Can I see it?"

"What?"

"Your scar. You said you never fixed the scar from the soldiers shot, can I see it?" Lance tilted his head, trying to get Keith to look at him, he wanted to gaze into those eyes and try to find what other tragedies lay beyond their protective shine.

Keith nodded and slowly raised his gray shirt over his shoulders, it was difficult and lance ended up having to help guid him. There it was a large dark purple mark that ran across his abs, the skin was raised and angry around the edges as of the shot as of it had burned him. "Oh my god, Keith this... this could have killed you" Lance gently traced his finger around the edges of the mark.

"It did kill me, they said that my heart stopped, lance. They thought I was dead but somehow it started up again and the blade was able to save what was left of me." Lance pulled his gaze away from the scar to look at his face. The purple had leaked into his cheeks, it wouldn't be long until his pale cream colored skin was replaced by a light lavender. Lance knew in his heart that Keith was in pain at this very moment but was trying hard not to show it.

Lance placed his entire hand over Keith's scar without breaking eye contact "I can feel your heart beat Keith, I can feel you breathing. I know you think that you should have died with that girl, and you did. Your heart stopped. Some part of you didn't want to be done yet and that's why I can feel your life. I'm not gonna pretend to understand what that mission did to you... by I know one thing, you can't let it defeat that one part of you that's still fighting." The lights of the castle dimmed to almost complete darkness. Lance couldn't see the marks on the wall anymore or the entrance to Keith's bathroom, or even the other end of the bed, but somehow he could see every detail of Keith who was sitting next to him. "We should get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be long."

Lance moved to the inside of the bed, Keith settling on the outside, freezing the air he touched, neither one mentioned that lance had decided to stay. After seeing what Keith did when he was cared and alone, lance refused to let him fall that far again, so Keith wouldn't be alone tonight.

The next morning, lance woke up to the lights slowly brightening, the blankets strewn across the bed with no order. His face felt stiff, he gently raised his hand to his left cheek, he felt a warm liquid meet his fingers and red meet his eyes when he drew tham away. One thing had lance most worried though, not the disorder, not the blood, no.

Keith wasn't next to him.


	7. Glass ridden floors

The palsy blankets fell to the floor as Lance's entire body was thrown from the bed in a single jerky movement, his bare feet descending onto the blanket his had just discarded while his mind spun wildly, questions flying in and out of his brain before any of them could be answered.

Where's Keith? What happened? Why does my face hurt? Why is there blood? Keith? Where the hell is keith? Is he ok? Is he hurt? Did he change last night? Oh god!!!

The room twisted sickeningly, the floor coming up to meet Lance's forehead. Lance instinctively threw his hands forward to protect his face while he tried to draw his knees forward. When he colided with the floor it gave his mind the spilt second it needed to realize he was panicking. He took several long breaths before glancing at his feet only to find them entangled in Keith's blanket. Lance mentally chided himself, he needed to focus right now. Think. Where could Keith have gone? His eyes scanned the room falling on the entrance. No, lance thought, Keith wouldn't risk being seen by the other paladins, he wouldn't leave this room.

Something in the back of his mind whispered that Keith wasn't in the room so he couldn't have stayed. Something had made him feel like he had to run. So if he couldn't leave, and he couldn't stay...

Lance turned his head to the bathroom, the door was cracked open slightly, beyond that the roomwas shrouded. Lance gently let himself deranged from the blanket as he slowly rose to his feet and made his way across the ashen surface.

Lance paused when he reached the door, images of Keith crying flashing. Lance wasn't sure he could handle that right now, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what lay beyond the barrier. Lance gathered his courage and pushed the broken images aside. The door swung open with little resistance, lance fumbled to find a light, his fingers brushing aginst the ridges panel where the light controls lay. The room burst with electricity.

The room was coated with glass, the floor, the counter, it was everywhere. And there was Keith, sitting against the far wall.

Keith's entire face was purple, not the typical dark purple most Galra had but a light paleish purple. His knees where drawn to his chest in a protective manner. He was staring at his hands, there was blood running down his fingers and dripping to the floor creating a small puddle, but that's not was caught Lance's attention. His nails had grown past his fingertips and could only be described as claws. In all honesty, if a girl had nails like that it wouldn't have been that noticeable, but on Keith? They were claws, razor sharp galran claws. "Keith?"

Keith violate eyes snapped up in pure panic, lance couldn't explain the relief that flooded across him when he saw Keith's eyes were still that dusty gray color, "don't come any closer!"

Lance froze, he was about halfway into the bathroom, it was difficult to navigate around the glass, he didn't want to add to the already alarming amount of blood. "Keith, what happened?"

"Stay there, lance!" Keith shouted, his words lacked any real venom though they were laced with guilt and sorrow.

Lance crouched down in the center of the room, carefully placing his hands around the reflective shards "Keith, your bleeding"

"Lance, I said stay there!"

"Let me help you"

"No! Stay away from me!"

As if he had flipped another light switch, realization dawned on lance making his stomach churn and twist, without thinking he recoiled away from Keith. As a result to Lance's slight retreat, Keith shrunk into the wall even more so, never taking his eyes off lance. Did he really think Lance would hurt him? "Keith-"

"I don't want to hurt you again!" Keith cried, his hands shaking violently, making his new claws bounce.

Lance stood there shocked. He did think that lance was going to hurt him, no, _he_ didnt want to hurt _Lance._ "Keith, what are you talking about? You never-" oh god. Lance saw his reflection in one of the mirror shards by his feet, his hair was disheveled and unkept, his clothes were wrinkly and twisted to one side, but that's not what stuck in his lungs, forcing air to freeze and spread to every blood vessel in his body the same way the purple spread across Keith's skin. There where four burning, clashes across his cheek, each one producing a smaller trail of blood that spilled over the cuts edge and rolled down to his collarbone before being absorbed in the fabric of his t-shirt.

Lance stared for moments after, the only sound was Keith ragid breathing before he breathed "im the monster" That was it, the claw marks forgotten lance crossed the room in two long strides, kneeling next to Keith in a patch of smooth tile. Keith shrunk back as far as he could, lance waited to make sure he was watching, before wrapping his slender fingers around a shard of glass. In one swift movement he drew the sharp edge across his palm, crimson erupting in its wake, slowly beeding before spilling over and dripping down his arm.

"Lance!" Keith lunged forward trying desperately to stop lance from bleeding but lance pulled away from his outstretched hand. "What-"

"Look at it Keith! Look at my hand!" Lance yelled, opening his hand to reveal the rosy liquid as it poured down his palm and wrist. "What color is it?"

"What-?"

"What color is my blood?!"

"Red." Keith's voice was shaky and uncertain, he looked genuinely confused, but lance knew this had to be done if he couldn't see this himself the others never would.

Without hesitation Lance grabbed Keith wrist before slicing the glass across Keith palm in the same manner as he had done to himself. Keith jerked back with a startled cry, his hand closed into a fiat to try to staunch the blood flow. "What the-"

"Look at it Keith"

"Why-"

"Look at it Keith!" Lance wasn't asking anymore, he needed Keith to see this. He wasn't Shiro, but he knew how to push Authority in to his voice. Keith's lavender fingers uncurled horribly slow, blood slipped between his fingers and traveled down his forearm. His eyes held fear as he examined the rag hind slash that lance had carved into his skin. Lance couldn't help but feel guilt rise up in the back of his bones. "What do you see Keith?"

"Blood"

"Exactly!" Lance explained after seeing a lost expression pass across his face. "What color is your blood Keith?"

"Red"

"Red Keith, your blood is the same color as mine. I'm human. Do you know what color Galra blood is? It's black Keith. Black. You don't have there blood. Your not a monster. If you can't see that when you look in a mirror than see it when you see me and you know that our blood is the same color." Lance enclosed Keith's claws in his own as best he could, trying to pull Keith out of his own mind.

Keith let his eyes drift to meet Lance's, dark circles and wrinkles lay made his ever striking eyes look even more beautiful, shades of both worried and relief travel through him as he stared into the shadows. "But, I hurt you..."

Lance let a shuddering laugh escape through his dry lips "what, you think I don't know how to hide scars?" As soon as the breath escaped him he realized his mistake.

The tide turned. "What scars Lance?" Keith dropped his bleeding hand into his lap, forgotten, his eyes shone with the sharp emotion of concern and fright.

Lance withdrew his eyes, he just couldn't handle holding Keith's dusty gaze. something deep inside lance told him he couldn't lie to Keith, he just couldn't.

"Keith, we are at war. You think any of us are going to walk out of this without scars?" Lance knew he was dancing, trying to answer without answering, trying to push his way upstream without swimming.

Keith thought for a second, his eyebrows creasing ever so slightly making the skin under his eyes tighten against his bones. "The cryo pods don't leave scars, Lance. They're designed to fully heal he tissue, only really bad injuries leave scars and even then it's barely noticeable."

"Unless you don't use the cryo pods" Lance refused to look up, he didn't want to see the cold look that he knew was plastered across his pale features.

"What does that mean lance?"

"It's a long story"

A hand fell on Lance's shoulder, not painfully or uncomfortable, it was just present. Something that was there to remind lance that he was still sitting in that glass ridden bathroom, with Keith sitting next to him. "I've got time Lance."

"I'm Cuban. We got a lot of tropical storms because we lived in the tropics. A few years ago, we got hit hard, a category 5 hurricane that went right over us. We had to go underground for days, over 30 of us jammed into a basement maybe the size of this bathroom. My niece and nephews clutching to me, crying and asking if we were ever going to see the sun again. Ever since then I couldn't handle small spaces. I had a lot of panic attacks because of that storm and it took a long time for me to get over that fear. When the castle went crazy and started malfunctioning I got trapped in a cryo pod while I was still awake, Keith, I couldn't move, I couldn't breath, I couldn't see, all I could do was think about that storm and when I didn't know if I would ever see light again. I was terrified. I still am terrified of those stupid things. Every time I get hurt on missions, I don't go into the pods I just couldn't make myself do it so I patched myself up, every time. That's why I have scars." Lance laughed a little at the end of his tale trying desperately to lighten the mood. He had told his story just like Keith wanted maybe he would leave it alone.

Keith simply squeezed Lance's shoulder one last time before hauling himself off the floor, wincing as glass pricked the bottom of his bare feet. He held his lavender hand out to Lance. "Well, we should probably clean up all this blood before we head to breakfast."

Lance accepted the offered hand but didn't let go once he was on his feet, "Are you sure your ready for this Keith?"

Keith averted his gaze but nodded. The rest of their morning was blur of the lance cleaning Keith's bloodied arms and vice versa. Keith wouldn't make eye contact while he scrubbed the crimson liquid off Lance's cheek, and he only flinched slightly when lance touched his hands.

Finally both red and blue Paladins stood before the dining hall entrance, Keith had become increasingly quiet and held a hard stare to the floor. Lance smiled slightly before opening the doors to reveal the other occupants of the castle of lions, cheery voicing ringing and echoing off the softly lit walls.

Silence. All eyes glued to the red Paladin who refused to meet the faces of the ones he once thought to be his friends. The silence held for a horrible amount of time, minuets maybe, seconds? Lance wasn't sure.

Than the unthinkable happened.

Allura screamed loud enough to shake the bones of death himself before attacking Keith.


	8. Tomatoes and chicken

Keith, back to the floor raised his luxite blade, catching the edge of the other's weapon, protecting his exposed chest.

Keith rolled always just far enough to win back around and send his blade flying the rough the air, strait at his attackers heart. The blade hit home sending the figure to the ground with shattering force. Keith launched across the room with inhuman speed, yanked his blade free before forcing the metal down once again. The figure underneath him went still, the cold hands that had been wrapped around his waist fell.

Keith rose uneasily, letting the blue and gold training bot dissolve back into the castle's computer in a array of shimmering blue. His muscles were screaming. He hadn't left the traing arena in days, ever since he showed the team his bruised complexion.

Keith winced, placing a hand over his left side, when he remembered that night.

 _Allura rushes forward with a scream of pure rage. Keith felt the air move next to him, his senses going into overdrive, he had never moved that fast. Lance was trying to step in front of him to protect him, but Keith was faster turning on his heel, pushing lance to the side and turning his side to Allura in order to take her attack without hurting with his claws. Everything seemed to slow down when Lance lost balance and Allura collided with Keith's left side._

 _They hit the ground, hard ,Allura on top of him Keith pinned aginst the floor, crushing his lungs making it hard to breath. Keith could just barely make out the sound of the others coming to help over the guy wrenching scream that came from the princess. Keith couldn't breath,his vision was becoming fuzzy.Someone pulled a kicking and screaming allura of his chest, allowing air to once again fill his lungs while he gasped. He gently prodded his collar and felt bruises. Allura had been strangling him and he never even noticed her small hands closed around his skin._

 _Pidge appeared next to him, her gentle hands brushing the marks on his neck. Fear took her features before they exploded into ravenous rage. "What were you thinking Allura?! You could have killed him!"_

 _Keith lifted his head once his breathing returned, Allura was thrashing back and forth in hunks restraining grasp, wild white hairs falling across her face marking her look almost savage._

 _Hunk, had his eyes focused on the princess, be his gaze flicked to Keith every so often, before returning back. Keith had felt something tug inside him, Hunk was scared of him._

 _Allura yelled agin, her words lost to the sound of Keith's heart sinking. Keith turned his gaze to the one person he had always looked to._

 _Shiro_

 _Shiro had his eyes glued to Keith, his mouth hung open, his eyebrows creases together. He had one foot behind him as if he planned to run, run away from Keith, his brother in everything but blood... there's a lot in blood that separated them, Keith thought._

 _"I'm sorry" Keith felt himself saying, he didn't know why but the vast variety of expressions that hovered made him feel guilty. He had left then, dusty eyes fell, listening to the sound of his feet as they carried him to god knows where._

Keith shook his head, pulling his hand from the black mark on his side. "Start training level 35." Keith raised his blade, hold it in a back handed grip, it's silvery surface reflecting the blueish tinge of the lighting.

In front of him the atmosphere shimmered, blue cubes flew from the floor assembling the training room's guardian, brandishing a long golden spear. There was a click as the last of the machines pices materialized, and it's eyes light up in the same pale blue that coated his blade.

The world around him blurred while the bot infront of him came into perfect focus, he could see very small scratch in its paint, he could see the way the eyes pulsed slightly with energy, he could see the mechanism in the joints tense before they exploded and the fight began.

Keith moved like liquid, flipping and twisting around the boys spear, barley touching the ground before springing right back to the air. It never came close to him, with a final sweep of his blade,Keith separated the head from the shoulders and stood unfazed as the guardian powered down before bursting to tiny particles.

A high pitched drawn out whistle came from the entrance, the yellow Paladin stood in the entrance with a tray balanced between his hands, on top of tray was a few different dishes, one was purple and looked sticky, next was a dish that bubbled a bright green, finally there was a bowl that looked as if it had soup in it, the steam curling away in small wisps. "I've never seen anyone move that fast"

It was true, ever since the pain stopped he had noticed certain... differences in his abilities. He was faster and more agile, he was more focused, less tired. He could train for hours without pausing, witch what he had been doing since the previous night. God how long had he been down here? "Hey Hunk! What time is it?"

Hunk gave a shy smile "it's almost midnight dude, you've been here for almost and entire day."

"Guess I lost track of time" Keith reasoned

"Or you were avoiding Allura and Shiro?" When Keith looked away hunk decided to drop it. "Anyway, I assume you haven't eaten since yesterday, so I brought you some food." Hunk walked over to one of the many benches that lined the training arena, he gently set the tray down before plopping himself down and motioning for Keith to join him.

Keith moved slowly, remembering the night before, when hunk made no protest he settled on the other side of the tray.

"Help yourself." Hunk leaned back on the wall and watched as Keith gently cradled the soup bowl in his claws.

"What's in it?" Keith questioned

"Mostly just tomatoes, chicken, and broth"

Keith gently lifted the spoon to his lips and sipped the liquid. It was warm and sweet, with tiny slashes of spice mixed in, the chicken was soft and chewy while the vegetables crunched under his teeth. It was good, Keith hadn't noticed how hungry he had been. Another side effect most likely.

"Keith?"

"Ya?" Keith lowered his bowl to glance at hunk, he looked uncomfortable and nervous.

"Can I ask you a question?" His hands were folded him his lap, his eye trained on the floor.

"I don't see why not" Keith set the bowl on the tray before he slipped his fingers around the edge, lowering the tray to the floor between his feet. There were already so many barriers, he could move just one.

"I've seen you take ten shots without even flinching. You just kept fighting and delt with the damage after. But in training the other day... I have never been that terrified... I knew something was wrong, you were slow and unbalanced, I should have made you stop. Then you got hit, I was scared... the way you yelled in pure pain, the.. the way you didn't get back up. How both Pidge and Shiro ran to you. I thought I had killed you. And then there was lance he came in and knew exactly what happened. He looked so worried. Is it because if this? Did you go down in one shot because of this?" Hunk pointed to Keith's hand, purple and producing sharp claws.

Keith shifted his hand "when I was changing, it was extremely painful. I could barely breath. You were no we're close to killing me hunk, but ya, I went down because I was changing."

Hunk shook his head "why didn't you tell us man? We could have helped you. I mean I know allura and Shiro aren't thrilled about it but they still care. You didn't have to go through this alone."

"I wasn't alone. I had Lance"

Hunk took interest immediately "Lance? Why would you tell Lance? You hate Lance"

Keith scrunched his eyebrows, he didn't really know why he told Lance. He could have gone to hunk or Pidge that night but he hadn't. He had gone to Lance. "I don't know why"

"Nope! Not good enough. Why did you go to lance?" Hunk was practically vibrating.

Keith paused, "fine, I went to lance because, everything sound so simple when he says it, I was scared and I needed simple, easy comfort." Keith let his own words sink in, he never really thought about it like that.

"Makes sense." Hunk smiled, behind his eyes something glimmered, like he had information that he wasn't telling. "Well, I should get to bed soon, never know what might come up."

Keith nodded retrieving his blade from beside him, striding back the center of the arena "Keith, you should go to sleep to, you've had a rough couple of days"

"Just a few more" Keith smirked, he wanted to make sure he wasn't going to run into anyone on his way to his chambers.

"I'll send lance to your room in one hour if your not there, I'll make Shiro come get you!" Hunk threatened, before turning to leave, the food tray between his arms.

Keith fought for another half hour, he wanted to fight the whole time but his ears were ringing and his body was starting to slow. Traveling the halls was much easier than he anticipated, the long corridors were empty. Once he reached his room he went about doing his nightly business, he changed, hung his jacked, spent a good twenty minuets polishing his dagger before stuffing it under the pillow were he could reach it with out trouble. He was just about to brush his teeth when the door opened.

Lance came in, his eyes focused on a small Altean device in his fingers, one he came closer Keith noticed it was a lion scanner "hey Keith I was just coming to make sure you came back from training, I think your staring to scare-OH MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL?"


	9. Acceleration

"Lord zarkon" Hagar bent low, her knees touching the cold metal floor illuminated by the harsh purple lighting, her palm and fingernails pressed flat in front of her. Her pale hair covering her view of the man on his throne.

Zarkon shifted, his armor clanking as it scraped across the chairs metallic surface, bringing his face into light. "Witch. You requested to see me, I assume that means you have news on the Paladins" His voice was like thunder, rolling over everything and crushing it with pure power.

Hagar kept her head bent "Not exactly sire-"

Zarkon had her by the throat in an instant, cutting her words from her mouth and forcing her eyes to meet his own yellow orbs. "You are nothing more than a tool to my success, the only reason I don't crush your windpipe and mount you on the wall like a trophy, and then proceed to eliminate all your druids the same way is the fact that your magic has been useful in finding the lions in the past. Do not mistake this for affection for who you used to be witch! As soon as your Magic's are no longer useful, I will no longer need you"

Zarkon released her, relishing in the sound of her frail body colliding with the floor. Hagar scrambles to her knees before raising to her feet and leveling a glare to zarkons armored back before lowering her eyes and letting her cool voice slip into the room "I know my place." She hissed "While I have not found the lions signature in my searchings, I did find something else that may be of interest to you, my lord"

"Speak your findings or crawl back to your cave" zarkon said sinking down into the large metal throne, his face falling behind shadows, golden eyes shining.

Hagar held her hand out in front of her, an orb of glowing crimson red pulsed around her fingers "This is the life force of a Galran coming of age, this soul is starting the transition-"

"Galran cadets come of age every day, this is becoming tiresome witch". Zarkon curled his hands into fists

"This life force is outside the cadet force" Hagar explained

Zarkon leaned forward his mouth forming a frown Ashe hummed "A deserter?"

Hagar lifted her eyes, watching as her ghostly hair fell around the edges of her hood, she nods before lifting her face fully, revealing the distorted Altean marks that bleed from her eyes "Unfortunately I cannot find it's exact location while it's in such a early faze of transition"

Zarkon fell into an uneasy silence, his breathing the only thing that pierced the fabric the silence had gently lay over the violet shrouded chamber. "Is there any way to accelerate the transition?"

Hagar eyes widened slightly, cold air slipping between her parted lips "not without causing pain, they would be receiving all the full force of pain the transition causes all at once, I'm not sure if it would survive-"

Zarkon rose to his feet, gently striding the perimeter of the room causing the witch to shift, "Accelerate the transition until you can track the deserters location, then you will lead a fleet to retrieve it."

Hagar glances back at the floor beneath her, slowly gliding her eyes across the robes that splayed around her feet "But Lord zarkon, it would be in excruciating pain, it might not even survive long enough for the fleet to retrieve"

Zarkon circles the room twice, letting the silence rest again before he stopped by the door, standing steady and strong in front of one of the droids that stood guard. "Yes it will cause excruciating pain, but you will not let it die. No. You will retrieve what is left of it and whatever is with it. They you will bring it aboard your ship and make it wish it had died during the transition. You will break it. And once it's broken..." Zarkon twisted and drove his massive fist through the droid before depositing the shattered mechanical corpse, letting it spark as it crash against the floor.

Zarkon turned back to his throne "Return once you have succeeded"

Hagar drooped her eyes, reached her hands up to tug her hood, concealing her marks and turned, her feet silently gliding over the shinning corridor.

Hagar stood in the center of the sunken alter. She kneeled and set her palms flat, glowing black markings burned from her hands, spiraling until it dawned the room with the luminescent shadows, curling and burning the walls with pure energy.

Hagar brought her hands up in a slow gesture, the red life force throbbing slowly like a heart beat, steady and strong. The shadows crawled off the walls like a living creature that had sensed injured pray, shadows curled around the red orb burning marks into its lucid surface, causing it to pulse, as if in pain. Hagar yelled and slammed her hands together, bringing the rest of the shadows to the red orb where it reeled in pain as the shadows were absorbed.

The room exploded in a bright light as the last of the dark tendrils disappeared beneath the surface of the orb, now throbbing and pulsing quickly, its edges stretching and shrinking, recoiling in the pain of the burns that scared its faded crimson.

Hagar breathed deeply, her hands hovering. She gently flicked her wrist, a purple band locked around the orb, tethering it to the floor while she watched it die slowly

000

The dusty lilac had never been so comforting, like a calming storm cloud heavy with rain as it passes over still waves. Or mist that settles over the grass, lightly dusting each and very blade with droplets of water that sit patently for the sun to rise and cast them in fractured golden light.

They always said the eyes where the widow to the soul. That's what Keith's eyes showed as he gazed into their ghosts.

Keith's eyes were the only thing that he still recognized when he looked in the mirror, and it terrifies him that he had changed that much, that the sense of relief that washed over him every time he saw his eyes hadn't changed.

"Keith?" Lance's eyes were different than Keith's, they resembled the clear ocean,pristine and flat as it gently rolled onto the white sand. Or the blue sky on a warm summer day, big puffy clouds that slowly blew across on a breeze, rattling the leaves of a tall maple tree. That blue was calming and promising of good, were Keith's gray- purple eyes were calming but held potential for disaster.

"Keith? You still with me man?" Lance asked leaning on the doorframe to Keith's bathroom, his eyes trained on Keith as he stared into the mirror.

Keith flinched slightly, his ears flicking forward attentive. He watched as Lance's eyes left his face, glancing at the top of his head. Keith sighed feeling his ears fall into a more natural state "If you wanna say something, say it"

The blue Paladin smiles slightly, pushing off the wall and walking forward, his eyes trained just above Keith's eyes "what does it feel like?"

Keith turned back to the mirror, his gaze lingering on his own eyes for a moment, trying desperately to burn the image of those storm clouds into his memory as if he'll never see them again. Then he let his eyes rise to the top of his reflections head.

Two purple ears extend from his jawline to the top of his head where they reconnect, dark purple... fur? Lines the outside of the ears, blending seamlessly into his hair. They twitched on their own draw to some noise Keith couldn't hear. "Their kinda heavy"

"You look like a cat" Lance said reaching his fingers up, only for Keith to swat his hand away

"I do not!"

Lance laughed, leaving the bathroom. Keith watched him go before letting his eyes fall back on his reflection. He watched the violet orbs stare back at him, the clouds rolling over the night sky.

A flash of red sparked deep in the gray before being consumed by a deep black. Pain flared before fading leaving Keith, starring at himself in the mirror his ears flattened against his head, eyebrows drawn in confusion, a sinking feeling settling deep in his heart like a stone falling through oil.

"Keith, I'm going to get food. It would mean a lot to me if you came down and ate something." Keith flinched slightly, Why is he yelling? Keith's ear twitched as he heard the air part around the door as lance left, his foot falls echoing down the castles corridors.

Keith let his muscles relax, unwinding from their tense position into a more natural existence, his ears falling back.

His mind swirled as he looked back into his mirror, trained to his new... development, that stood at attention among his black hair strands. He looked more Galra now than he ever did, he looked like the Galra from his dream, his nightmare. The one that laughed as Keith was being choked by his brother, and then laughed harder as it dragged its claws across his friends throats while he sunk in black sludge.

Keith tore his eyes away, the mirror was not his ally anymore. He gently unclenches his fingers, not realizing he had curled them into fists, and stared at the discolored mark across his palm. Lance had marked him this way, dragging a glass shard across his skin to show him Lances blood matched his own. Keith let his eyes rise to the reflective surface.

I'm not one of them!

Tick

Keiths eyes wipes to the door of the bathroom, is ears flared and listening closely while his hand instinctively went to his knife, curling his claws around the handle. Ready to strike

Tick

Tick tick tick

"Lance?" Keith cringed as he silently walked into his main room. The blue paisley blacker spread across the bed, the draws in his dresser closed tightly, the door remained still and quiet.

His room was completely empty.

Keith uncurled his claws from his blade, waiting patiently for the sound to return. Nothing.

Boom

Keith stumbles backward drawing his blade in front of him, holing it in a backhanded grip. The world around him tore apart into a vortex of noise that shredded his ears, lights that forced him to clamp his eyes closed to avoid being blinded. The noise rose, meaning less and random at first.

Keith dropped his knife and winced as it crashed on the cold white floor, he threw his claws over his already flattened ears desperately trying to stop the sounds.

He could hear everything.

Hunk who stood in the kitchen, a knife chopping hardened food goo as he hummed, Pidge who sat in the lions bay muttering while she furiously typed across her keyboard, allura and Coran who stood on the bridge of the castle navigating distress signals that sent searing pain into Keith.

Keith felt warm liquid deep between his fingers as he collapsed on the ground, eyes still screwed shut as he pressed his knees into the floor.

Keith screamed, his voice added to symphony of agony that ricocheted in his head, his sanity being drowned as he writhed on the floor in his barren room with blood on its walls.


	10. Three hours

Marks of changes - chapter 10

It's been three hours

Lance couldn't describe the feeling that spread through his heart, it was toxic and dark and terrifying and heavy. God it was so heavy. It pulled at his soul threatening to bury what little hope was left that Keith would walk through the doors to the silver dining hall.

Lance found himself lost in his own mind, images of all possible things that could have happened that caused Keith to make him wait spiraling and twisting until he couldn't distinguish witch detail match with witch nightmare and they melted into one demonic mass of pain and fear. Images of Keith bleeding out on the floor with bullet holes and knives and glass and shards of metal and burn marks littered across his skin while hundreds of figures stood over him their faces changing with each passing second.

"Lance!" The blue Paladin flinched as his mind crawled from with in itself. Lance blinked a few times feeling his eyes crust from exposure to air for to long. "Dude, you good? You looked like you were kinda lost for a second there"

Lance blinked the last of the images away, bringing himself back to reality to see Pidge leaning on the table next to him, her arms crossed, face stern and slightly annoyed but her eyes showed her concern. "Yeah..." Lance cleared his throat, finding it scratchy and painful due to the lack of use it had endured in the last few... hours. "Sorry, what time is it?"

"It's almost noon, you didn't show up for training so Allura sent me to come find you." Lance took that moment to notice that Pidge was clad in her green and white Paladin armor instead of her normal green sweatshirt and shorts. How hadn't he noticed her armor as soon as she walked in? How hadn't he notice her walk in?

Somewhere amongst the questions in his mind, one in particular slipped from his slightly parted lips. "Did Keith go to training?"

Pidge shook her head slightly "Who went to get him, Pidge?" Lance asked slowly, almost afraid of the answer.

She wouldn't look at him. Why wouldn't she look at him? Lance leaned forward slightly, his arm propped on the table next to a plate of untouched food goo, long forgotten. "Pidge?" Lance could feel his anger slowly rising. He knew that Allura wasn't thrilled about Keith's... complication, but if she dared to...

"Allura didn't send anyone to get Keith, she told us to let him rot alone in his room" her voice was quiet, saddened. As if the words coming out her mouth could possibly hurt her as much as they hurt Lance.

"SHIT!" His voice was foreign to himself, but the anger it came from? That was all Lance. "How dare she? How dare she treat him like that while I've been in here waiting for him for hours worrying my ass off! How DARE she think she's worth any more than him!"

"Lance I know..."

Lance didn't give Pidge room to finish, he could hear her starting to DEFEND Allura as if in some crazy reality she might have had reason to do what she had done "No Pidge! No you don't! You know what? You did your job! You found me! Now go back and tell her to screw herself!"

Pidge sighed, a sigh of defeat but also a sigh of relief. Keith was as much a brother to her as lance and Matt were. And to hell with anyone who disrespect her family. "I'll be sure to pass along the message. Where are you going?"

Lance, in his rage hadn't even noticed he was moving, his feet echoing harshly as he walked out the dinning hall door, pausing only momentarily to glare in the direction of the training hall before stalking to the living quarters, calling over his shoulder "I'm going to check on Keith. Where the hell else would I go?"

Lance could feel his blood raging in his veins, the liquid careening through his heart and to his extremities. His feet barely pausing on the smooth floor before pushing off again.

His head thrummed with constant rapid beating of his heart in in temples, while hate swirled through the rest of him, unwilling to allow him to think of anything with out seeing red at the edges of his vision. How dare she! Leave him to rot?! Keith is a Paladin of fucking Voltron for gods sake! If he was a danger to them, Red never would have accepted him as her Paladin!

Lance rounded a corner, his right shoulder connecting harshly with the panel of the wall. Lance spun on his heel driving his left fist into the corner, a deep growl escaping his throat as the skin of his knuckles split and a singular drop of blood fell that paved a trail down his hand before wrapping around his wrist and dripping to the floor.

Lance tensed, his fingers tightening into fists at his side as he once again started down the hall, his feet clapping loudly on the flooring, but the war in Lances mind drowned it out. How could Allura stand there and act all high and mighty when she's said these horrible things about someone who's saved her ass on so many occasions?! Better question how could Shiro stand beside her when this was Keith? Keith! His little brother?

The scream made Lance stopped dead, the blood in his veins going from an inferno to a tundra in a millisecond. If hell ever freezes over it would feel just like this, sickening drop in the stomach, throat closed, hands shaking, and heart stopped between beats as it was slowly encased in frosty ice crystals.

Lance had never heard a scream that raw and damaged, but it was undoubtedly Keith, lance had become so accustomed to Keith's voice the last few days, he could recognize It from a mile away.

The hallway blurred as lance broke into a sprint, the anguished screams getting louder with each step. His feet didn't even touch the floor as his body moved, his mind several steps behind him, trying desperately to catch up to the instinct driven body it had been cast from.

He skidded to a stop I front of Keith's door, it was closed, blending almost seamlessly into the walls, leaving only the faintest of a crack to indicate another room. Lance hated this door, the amount of times he stood here imagining what stood on the other side.

"Keith!" Lance pounded the heel of his palm onto the flat surface! "Come on! Open!" Lance yelled panic settling in. "Keith!" He was Sure Keith couldn't hear him over his own screaming. Lance wedged the tips of his fingers in the crease of the door pulling as hard as his muscles could. The door didn't budge. Damn it! Why won't it open! With one final pull the panel jerked, throwing lance to floor as he lost his balance, his head snapping.

Lance scrambled to his feet before entering Keith room, frantic. What he saw, broke his heart. Keith was writhing, thin trails of blood dropped from his ears that were pressed flat to his head, his hands latched over them claws digging into his scalp. His eyes clamped shut, but lance could see the tear trails that had slipped through the prison of lashes that shielded his violet irises.

Lance dropped to his knees, placing his hands on Keith shoulders "Keith, what's happening?"

Keith screamed again his claws burrowing further into the indigo fur on his ears, blood seeping through his fingers, trailing down his cheeks to his chin where it slid down his neck and beneath his dark gray shirt.

" Stop it! Your hurting yourself! Keith what's happening?" Lance pried Keith hands away from his ears, clasping them in with his own. He tried hard not to notice the way Keith cringed when he spoke or how his cries intensified every time lance spoke.

"It... loud... ITS TO LOUD! I... I can't... I" Keith yelled, his voice was raw and pained, broken.

"What do I do?" Keith squirmed in Lances grasp as he restrained keith blood tipped claws from doing more damage.

"Make it stop... make it... stop!"

Lance didn't think twice as he released Keith's wrists and snaked his arms around Keith's waist before shifting Keith into his lap. Lance left one hand on Keith's hip bone to balance him while the other tracked lightly up his spine, threading his fingers into the dark hair at the base of Keith Galran ears, where hair and fur collided unnaturally, yet seemed to mix almost perfectly.

Lance let his fingers explore the area before he gently drew Keith's ear to rest on his shoulder, pausing only long enough for Keith to lift the appendage from where it had been flattened, flinching slightly. "Just focus on me, focus on my voice, my breathing. Focus on my heart beat."

Keith's ears twitched. Lance knew his heart was erratic, he could hear it even over Keith's pained screeches, but Keith was listening. "Just listen to my heart beat..."

Keith slowly relaxed, very slowly. They sat there on the floor, Keith wrapped in Lances arms while his ear was pressed to Lances chest, long enough for the blood that had been dripping freely to slow down. Lance sat in compleat silence, save for the occasional wine that escaped from the small purple figure in his arms.

"Shhh... listen..."

0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.

The velvet chain snapped, bolts of pure magic energy shot out, scorching the walls around the alter. Shadowy clouds shrank away from the crimson orb as it throbbed powerfully before it vanished from sight, sending a wave of force through the circular room.

The Galran witch gasped as her magic was broken, her arms falling to her sides as the last of the magic energy twirled around her limp fingers before fading.

Hagar scowled, that spell was unbreakable. It shouldn't have dispersed until the transformation was completed. No matter, she had what she needed, And more. An energy source she had felt before, one of power and an untamed hear, one of rage and instinct. One of fire.

"Lady Hagar?" A voice called from beyond the entrance of the alter.

Hagar tilted her head toward the door, the cloth of her robes falling over the steps that jutted from the far walls as she glided to the panel washed in deep purple. When the panel slid out of view, Hagar moved her eyes to the floor, allowing her hair and hood to shield her markings from the soldier who stood waiting. "Prepare the fleet for departure immediately. Set a course for the Karthulin system"

The gray armor clad Galran started to protest " Our fleet doesn't have clearance for that-"

Hagar has him pinned to the wall in seconds, restrained by a shifting wall of purple essence that pressed against the armor he wore so proudly, crushing it slowly against his chest cavity.

"Set. A. Course. For the Karthulin system" she hissed, he voice strong and unwavering yet almost silent.

The armor groaned under the eminence pressure, the metal warping. The soldier could feel the edges digging into his skin, sending warm trails down his chest "Of course, Is there anything else I can do?"

Hagar allowed her magic to disintegrate, savoring the sound of the body colliding with the floor and the residual sounds of scraping aluminum, as the body scrambled to its feet. Hagar dragged herself back through the threshold of the alter, not even glancing over her shoulder as she spoke "Inform Lord Zarkon that I have located the Red Paladin of Voltron"


	11. Transmissions

Marks of change chapter 11

The chill from the wall pressed through the thin fabric of his shirt while his legs tightened from disuse. The figure in his arms radiated frigid temperatures, only adding to the ever growing need to stand and grab a blanket.

But Lance didn't give these things much thought, they just seemed so insignificant compared to said figure silently snuggled into Lances caller bone. Keith had fallen asleep almost an hour ago, completely drained. Lance had simply shifted them against the wall, and let his fingers carefully ghost in Keith's hair and around the base of his ears. Keith had relaxed into Lances touch almost immediately, and strangely enough it helped lance a little, but did nothing to staunch the flow of screams the resided in his memory, mixed harshly with the sound of blood dripping to the floor, wrapped in blue light as it splattered across the pearly flooring staining its perfect surface with pain and sorrow.

Stained with Keith's blood.

Lance felt himself unconsciously tighten his grip around Keith's waist, while his eyes trailed over the now blood crusted marks that now painted the backside of Keith's ears, they were long and jagged, stopping just short of the place Lances fingers now rested, rubbing small circles into the indigo fur.

Lance wished he could see Keith's eyes, he was breathing but when the memories came back lance couldn't help but think how dead Keith looked curled in his arms. Lance just wanted to see that violet gaze again, scared he wouldn't get lost in the hazy fog ever again.

Lance shook his head, No Keith is fine. He's fine. He's going to be fine. Lance forced his muscles to relax, trailing his hand from Keith's waist to his knee and back again, silently reassuring himself keith was there, under his fingertips.

Eventually Lances bladder won, forcing him to squirm out from under Keith's grasp laying him down gently on the floor. After reliving himself lance slipped his hands into the warm stream of water that flowed from the sink, rubbing them together until a warm white lather had built up.

Gathering a towel between his fingers, Lance spared a glance in the mirror, taking note of the small scratches that trailed across his cheek, and the light shadows that decorated the skin beneath his eyes.

"Incoming transmission: Kolivan, Blade Of Marmora"

Lance pulled his eyes away, dropping the towel onto the sink and turning for the exit, curious to what could bring Kolivan to call the castle instead of just contacting Keith individually through the communicators in the blade suits. Keith had told Lance that the communicators were how he got blade missions, they used them as a way to avoid Allura's prying eyes.

Lance walked onto the control deck, Allura was standing in front of a holographic screen, back straight, eyes set in an angry scowl, her armed crossed over her white and blue battle suit that cling tightly to her figure, one knee kicked out in front of her either for balance or to make the point that she was unimpressed with what Kolivan might have said.

Said Galran looked equally irritated, but that wasn't much of a change. Kolivan was the leader of The Blade of Marmora and that wasn't just a title, lance has never even seen this guy blink, much less smile. He was also the cold heart behind knowledge or death , the Blades mantra.

Allura tilted her chin as she spoke "Kolivan , what can I do for you?" Lance paused, surprised that neither had spoken yet and they still had such a hostile air around them. He knew Allura wasn't fond of working with the blades, but he had thought she had looked past the fact that they were Galra. Flashes of Keith came to life behind Lances eyelids, on second thought, maybe it didn't surprise lance that much.

"Princess," Kolivan greeted, his voice low and full of anything but respect " One of my scout teams picked up a trace of Galran activity in the vilor system. As I'm sure you know the vilor system is directly beside the one your castle of lions is currently hiding in."

Allura stiffened "A fleet? This close to the castle with out our scanners picking them up?"

"It's not a fleet, it's a single ship. A single ship that is emanating more power than three fleets combined. Which is why I'm contacting you personally." Kolivan pauses, waiting for Allura's reaction, when she gave none he continued "I would like to send a reconnaissance team to investigate the ship, and what could be causing the increased power"

Allura furrowed her eyebrows, the markings under her eyes crinkling slightly " I'm not sure what this has to do with me or my team."

Kolivan narrowed his eyes "I want Keith to lead this mission. I would have just contacted him directly, but this mission is considerably more dangerous than any other he has been on, and he would be alone. The larger the team the larger the risk of being discovered and killed. As there is a high risk he might not come back, I'm asking your permission"

Allura straitened her knee distributing her body weight, her arms pulling tighter around her chest "Your asking my permission to send on of my team, a Paladin of Voltron, onto a hostile Galran ship with little to no information, with little confidence that they will return unharmed?" Lance felt hope spark in his chest, he hadn't realized that he fully expected Allura to send Keith to his death without hesitation. That realization sent guilt through his bones. It was still Allura.

"You have my permission"

Lance boiled, "you can't be serious" Allura started, just noticing Lance's presence. Kolivan's ear twitched ever so slightly in his direction, his face unmoving. "How could you even consider this? Allura this is insane!"

Allura seemed to deflate "Lance you have to understand. This mission is very important, life and death important-"

Lance snapped "yeah Keith's life witch you seem perfectly willing to sacrifice"

"Lance, Keith is small and fast and very good at being quiet, other than Kolivan himself Keith it the best blade to be on this mission. He has the best chance at finding something that could help the coalition."

"The chance of him not coming back alive is extremely greater." Lance said moving closer to Allura trying desperately to get her to recognize what she was doing.

Allura closed the distance between them, staring lance down, " This ship could potentially kill millions of innocent people including the humans on this ship"

"This isn't about stoping the ship and you know it. This is about the fact that Keith looks like what's in his blood. This is about Keith looking like a galra and you not being able to handle it." Lance met her stare with equal force.

Allura scowled " This is about gathering information that could save lives. Do you understand? People could die"

Lance lowered his voice almost to a growl "Keith could die"

"I'll do it"

Lance flinched, jerking away from Allura as if she had burned him. Keith was leaning against the frame of the doorway, arms crossed hiding his claws, ears attentive. "I accept the mission"

Lance stared, stuttering over incoherent thoughts and sounds." Their right" Keith said " I'm fast and I'm smaller that the other blades, meaning I'll have a better time sneaking around. Plus with my heightened senses, I'm an even more valuable asset to this mission."

Allura turned away from Keith, fixing her gaze on Kolivan, who hadn't reacted in the slightest to Keith's new appearance " How do we proceed?"

"Keith has his suit with him along with a blade glider that can get him close to the ship without being detected." Kolivan locked his eyes on Keith "I expect you to be transmitting video feed directly to both the base and the castle. Should you be captured or killed the coalition still has the information you gathered. If you are in a situation where you are going to be captured you know the protocol, and will execute the protocol without fail. Am I understood?"

Keith nodded pushing himself off the wall to stand strait "I understand"

"You will depart immediately. Knowledge or death"

Keith flicked his ears back slightly "knowledge or death". Kolivan's image disappeared as the transition was severed . Lance stared in horror at the blank holo-screen and Allura, turning only when he heard Keith leave the room.

Glancing back at Allura, Lance ran from the control deck. "Keith!" The Red Paladin froze in his tracks, turning to face lance. "What are doing?! Keith! You could die on this mission! Are you really risking you life for information?"

"Yes I am" Keith met his gaze, determined "This mission could be the difference between millions of people dying. How could I not go on this mission? How could I sit back and watch that thing kill and kill when I could have done something?"

Lance's anger faltered, this wasn't Allura, who had lost all his trust, or Kolivan, the heartless leader of Assassins. No. No this was Keith, who was just trying to help people, to save people from the pain that he knew. This was Keith, with no second motive, no anger driving his decisions. This was Keith, and lance couldn't stop him.

"I can't stop you from doing this can I?" Lance knew his question was pointless, but he had to be sure.

"Not this time Lance. I'm doing this" Keith's violet eyes brimmed with a sorrow that lance couldn't possibly understand "Look..." Lance felt like he was going to vomit, Keith was trying to say his last goodbyes Incase he didn't make it back, he knew he was going to die.

No. He would not sit here and accept the death of his friend before he was even...

Lance spoke first "If I can't stop you from going, that only leaves me one choice. I'm coming with you"


	12. Not leaving you

Marks of Changes -Chapter 12

Chapter 12- Not leaving you

Keith had been silent.

He was silent while he and lance donned the dark blade armor, he had been silent while they walked to the lions bay, and he was silent while Allura gave a last mission briefing. Ears attentive, eyes never flinching, his movements as graceful as they had been before... all of this, if not more so

He was silent as they walked past shiro, standing in front of his chamber door. Lance locked eyes with shiro's dull brown ones, searching his gaze for any sort of resentment or regret and found nothing.

Did he know they might be marching off to their deaths? Did he know that they might not come back from this? Did he realize that this might be the last chance he has to say something to Keith, to his brother?!

Lance pushed his questions and his emotions through his eyes hoping beyond hope that shiro would see it and say something. Desperately trying to stanch the flow of horrified questions that drifted into his mind, lance couldn't block a single phrase from resurfacing: Did he just not care enough to say goodbye?

Lance shifted his azure eyes to Keith. He couldn't see his face as lance had trailed behind slightly and now peered at the back of Keith's head. To anyone else it would seem as if Keith was un fazed by the fact that shiro was there, but lance had spent a lot of time with Keith lately and had learned certain tells that Keith himself my not have known about. His ears twitched slightly, dipping down almost becoming lax. His claws rested against his palm.

Lance found himself silently wishing that maybe Keith would say something or maybe just look at shiro one last time.

They stayed silent

Keith kept walking, Lance followed.

Now they sat in the slight wurr of the gliders wings as it cascaded away from castle of lions blue glow of security and into the soul sucking blackness of their up coming mission.

" Two minuets to dead stop, three minutes to intercept point" Keith murmured, his fingers ghosting over the controls as he switched from manual to auto pilot, Lance glanced into the raven hair that fell on the back of Keith's head trying to keep his mind focused.

There was always a chance that a mission could go bad and one of them might not make survive, but with the Paladins, even if you were captured or killed they would come back for you. They would rescue you from the clutches of the Galra even if you were just a corpse by the time they got to you. With the blade... there is no sentiment, there's no relationships, there's no one that's going to come to your rescue.

Lance knew that. He knew that. He could feel it Everytime Keith left for a mission, that overwhelming weight that pressed on your heart making it so you can feel every heartbeat in your finger tips, so you can feel your lungs expand with each breath that just didn't seem like enough for you to truly breath,the hatred that burned in your chest, that pain of wondering if you would never see that person again, wonder if you had ever said enough, didn't matter about what, could have been anything, but did you say everything? Did they hear every though you might have wanted to say but held you tongue against.

Lance knew that if someone was lost during a blade mission, they weren't coming home.

Lance just never thought he would be the one making other people wait to see if he would make it back. Lance could imagine Hunk cooking nervously in the kitchen, dishes and foods catching fire as he lets his thoughts get the better of him and he becomes distracted. Lance can see Pidge working tirelessly, her small form scrunched into a control panel somewhere in the castle walls as she tries to fix something that's not broken. He can see hunk laying down his ladle and starring blankly at the kitchen door silently willing lance and Keith to walk back in, smiles on their faces. He can see Pidge getting frustrated with wires as she hurls a tool at the nearest wall with all her force, before letting her shoulders drop in defeat.

In that moment lance realized what the worst part about not being with someone was, it's the feeling of not knowing, the feeling of waiting forever, the feeling that every second that passes by is a second to long, that feeling of 'he should have been back by now,.That was the blade of Marmora's worst punishment, making people wait, until there's nothing left to wait for.

Lance was yanked from his mind as the ship stuttered to a halt, the engine growing cold around them as the ship shut down. Keith shifted out of the pilots chair, only to sit back down to Lances left his eyes glued the the small area of glass that lance presumed was for surveillance, but lance found him self seeking comfort from the stars that shown through, and although he would never admit it, lance though he saw Keith doing the same thing, his purple eyes trailing from light to light across the void.

After a moment Keith spoke " We have two minuets of drift time before we hit the intercept point and the mission begins." His eyes never left the window "Once we are on the Galran ship all communication to the outside, except for the video log, must be terminated. After that we will use the ventilation system to investigate the ship and find the source of power. We are to stay silent at all times. If we are discovered our objective is to escape the ship as fast as possible to prevent the Galra from obtaining information."

Keith voice lost its malice slightly, his ears drooping tiredly, his eyes fixed but burning with a flame of hope he was to scared to share in fear of it being extinguished "This is your last chance to back out, Lance. Once we're on that ship we are alone, there's no back up. So if you want to go back to the castle say something now."

Lance hated himself for actually considering leaving Keith behind, even if it was just a second of doubt, he hated himself for that second. He would hate himself for that second for a long time to come. "I'm going with you, and I'm bringing you home too" Lance felt the weight of those words as if he had carved them into stone. This was a promise he was determined to keep. They would make it home.

Keith turned his eyes and locked his gaze with lance, his voice stern and demanding attention, as if the words he spoke could mean the difference between life and death. "You listen to me. Do as I tell you, no matter what. If I tell you to shoot, you shoot. If I tell you to shut up, you shut up. If I tell you to run and leave me behind,you run and leave me behind. Do you understand Lance?"

"I understand" Lance knew this was a lie. He would listen to Keith's every word until he asked him to leave alone. Lance wouldn't leave Keith behind. They might be blades right now, but they were Paladins first.

Keith flicked his eyes over Lances shoulder before standing abruptly, pulling his hood over his ears. His mask materialized across his facial features, shielding his emotions behind the black steel. "30 seconds to intersept point. Ready?"

Lance strained his muscles, willing them not to shake as he stood next to Keith. Lance allowed himself a moment to steady his heart beat before letting his fingers grasp the soft material of him hood. The purple- black vail fell over his hair before the cool metal of the face mask glittered into existence. His vision gained a purple tint, a small icon flashed in the corner of the display signifying Keith's vital signs.

The blade suits were so different than the Paladin armor. Paladin armor was big and bulky meant to protect you should you be separated from your lion. The blade suits were small and thin meant for stealth and speed, they offered little to no protection. Lance turned his attention to Keith once more realizing that blade members didn't need extra protection if they were detected they could demolish anything in their path simply using a dagger and if they couldn't... knowledge or death.

Lance steeled his nerves, crushing any lingering doubt or worries. He had to focus now, if he wanted this mission to be a success, no if he wanted to go home with his friend by his side, he had to keep his head. Lance drew his Bayard hoisting the blue and white weapon to his chest. "I'm ready"

"10 seconds" Keith tugged a leaver. The floor under their feet groaned before splitting down the middle, leaving only enough room for their feet to stand balanced.

Lance felt himself pale.

"5"

Lance clenched his fist, tightening the tendons inside his arms. His Bayard grew heavy in his hands.

"4"

Keith's ears flattened under his hood, his luxite dagger drawn and held in a Back handed grip

"3"

Lance crouched down his muscles bursting with tension ready to be released next a moments notice

"2"

For a split second, lance thought of the beach in Cuba, how the waves would exhale onto the pristine sand particles, the seemingly impossible clouds that drifted by on a sweet breeze and it lazily shifted his chocolate hair.

"1"

They dove

Time stopped. Lance couldn't breath. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't feel anything other than the throbbing in his finger tips as his heart desperately tried to prove that he was still alive.

As if a switch had been flicked, Lance felt his lungs expand, his vision cleared. He was crouched in a dark corner, his armor blending almost seamlessly.

Movement to his right drew his attention, Keith. He was balanced on the tips of his toes as his finger flew across the holographic screen that was embedded into the suits computer system.

"All outside communication had been terminated. The glider has been set to stealth mode and is currently following the cruiser at a safe distance" Keith spoke each word as quietly as if he had been breathing.

Lance quickly took the small operation to scan his surroundings. The room was completely metallic, a ghastly purple glow tinted the walls and flooring, reflecting hazardously across the wings of the smaller fighters ships the were screen across the floor in no pattern or organization. Most were charred or damaged, some still sparked slightly.

They had landed in a repair hanger.

Kieth holo-screen dissipated. He tilted his head to lance and somehow lance could tell, even through the mask, that their eyes met.

"We're in"


End file.
